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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Aug 21, 2023

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jD, Matt, and Thomas welcome Brennan Keller to the Hall to have a conversation with Thomas about five-timer Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. TranscriptThank you so much, Doug DeNance. Welcome to the SNL Hall of Fame podcast. My name is JD, and it is great to be here joining you. Just let me put this mop down. I've been mopping the front entrance for the sons of guns who don't wipe their feet. But of course, that's not you, you'll wipe your feet before you walk intothe Hall of Fame. [1:03] I just know it. The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair. Each episode we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest or writer and add them to the ballot for your consideration. Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity in the Hall. We already have a fantastic Hall of Fame building and we've added to it season over season. It's just keeps getting better and this year will be no different. We've got a lot of great nominees that you heard last week on the nominee draft and we are ready to rock and or roll to present them to you. And this week we've got a great one. got Brennan Keller and he is joining us to talk about Dwayne The Rock Johnson. That's right. Dwayne The Rock Johnson is being nominated in the host category for the SNL Hall of Fame. A five-timer, a great performer. I am a giant wrestling fan and watched his career burgeon in the WWF, the then WWF and all the way up into the WWE. It's gonna be a great deal of fun listening to Thomas and Brennan's conversation about this. [2:31] And we should get right to that. But before we do that, let me put this mop down and walk over here to Matt's minutiae minute corner and corner Matt for a minutiae minute. Track 3:[2:44] Hey Matt, how's it going today? Hey, it's great, thanks, and yourself? I'm excellent, thanks for asking. Terrific. So today we are talking about a favorite of mine. As a wrestling fan throughout the 80s and 90s the attitude era was robust but one name rose to the top and that is dwayne the rock johnson and he is our first inductee this year. Not inductee sorry he is our first nominee this year what can you tell us in terms of minutia about dwayne the rock johnson. Well, Dwayne is 6'5", he was born May 2nd, 1972, which makes me feel really bad about my jacketude, I guess, like how shredded I am not. [3:41] But yeah, he's descended from Samoan nobles and holds the title of Siuli, meaning son of Militola Militola and is a Canadian from his father side, who is a Canadian citizen. He briefly played for the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL before he decided to move on because he didn't like what they were cooking. Now he shortly after followed in his father's footsteps. His father was a a Canadian wrestler, Rocky Johnson, and became a professional wrestler with the WWE, which is at that time still the WWF. But it's not just his father. His grandfather, three uncles, and six cousins are all professional wrestlers. It's wild. Yeah, it's like a true family tradition. And in that tradition, his daughter has also recently started with the WWE, carrying on kicking butt for the family. [4:54] Now, he inducted his father and grandfather into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008. Um, now he's not just a great, uh, Wrestler, he is also an incredible business person. From day one, he he thought about like things that a lot of wrestlers and a lot of performers don't. He maintained naming rights for the rock. So all merchandise that bears his likeness that has the rock on there for the WWE, he gets a cut of which is a pretty smart move. Yeah, now his first acting roles were on TV, he appeared in shows like that 70s show, Ballers. [5:52] He played his dad in that 70s show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And on Young Rock, he played his dad there as well. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, yeah. But one of the acting roles that I remember most prominently, where he got to show off his eyebrow prowess was as the champion on Star Trek Voyager, where he foughtseven of nine. I did not know this. Yeah, yeah. So he got to space wrestle. Wow. Aboard. And it was a great episode, very over the top and very theatrical. And he was great in it. It was great. It was better than his first film role, Yeah, which is the mummy returns, but I mean, you can't really blame him for that. That was just the special effects of the time and a franchise kind of grinding to a halt, but he's had some incredible roles most recently in Black Adam. He does hold the Guinness World Book of Record record for the highest salary for an actor for their first movie, where he had $5.5, million for the Scorpion King or for the story, theMummy Returns. Excuse me. So, yeah. Yeah. and. [7:16] And also in a family family, the family footsteps, his grandfather was also in a movie as a villain. Peter Fenney, my media was a Bond villain, and you only live twice. Get out of here. Yeah, so he's very much following. It follows family traditions. The weirdest thing about his film career is he was actually Tim Burton's backup up, should Johnny Depp not accept the role of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Well, that would have been a different movie. That would have been indeed. I actually would have rather seen that movie because I would have been incredible. [8:04] Certainly would have meant Timothee Chalamet would have been not really a great, great pick for the prequel because I can't see him growing up and now as well as being an actorand a wrestler and nutritional supplement salesman and a tequila salesman he's also a successful author his biography the rock says lived at the top of the New York Times bestseller listfor several weeks his production company that he started with his brother-in-law and ex-wife, seven bucks production, was named after the amount of money that he had in his pocketwhen he was fired from the CFL. [8:55] And his ripped build runs in the family. His cousin, Tenoi Reed, is his stunt double. So yeah. And lastly, he was on Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People for 2016. Oh, that's very cool. Track 2:[9:14] Well, let's, uh, what do you say we take it downstairs and go to Thomas and Brennan and see what they have to add to the picture to make it complete for the nominee, Dwayne TheRock Johnson. Take it away, Thomas. Track 4:[9:58] All right, yes, Jamie and Matt. Thank you so much and we are super excited. This is season four of the SNL Hall of Fame. It is upon us. [10:10] Episode one here and we're talking about a goody. Somebody who since I've joined the podcast, I've been super excited about. I knew we were going to get to this person eventually and I think my guest here today who I'll introduce in a second would probably agree that this person that we're going to talking abouttoday has one of the maybe highest approval ratings compared to most of the nominees that we're going to be talking about here on the Esno Hall of Fame. Dwayne Johnson. Dwayne The Rock Johnson is our nominee here, season four, episode one of the Esno Hall of Fame. And joining me to talk about this five-timer host in Dwayne Johnson is a first-timer guest here on on the SNL Hall of Fame. We have Brennan Keller. Brennan, thank you so much for joining me here on the SNL Hall of Fame. Oh, my pleasure, Thomas. Thank you so, so much. Like I said, we'll see if the fans do, but I know that we smell exactly what this guy has been cooking for a long time. Absolutely, absolutely. For a long time. I know I've been a fan since like the big, since 96 when he entered the picture. And I know you said you're a wrestling fan, So we have a lot of fun stuff to get into. So Brennan, you're a frequent contributor on the Saturday Night Network. You were recently on with John Schneider doing their impression countdown. [11:38] A couple weeks ago, you were on with John Schneider doing the impression countdown. So we love you there on the SNN. You're a valuable contributor to the SNN. And you also do some stuff over on Reddit. And kind of tell us about that real quick. Yep, the Live from New York subreddit. It's been a bit dormant since the show is not going on currently. But during the season, we have a live discussion. That we have for each new episode that you can join. And it's a free account, fun to talk to, see what comes up, what happens. And then at the end of each episode, we rank and discuss every single sketch, every performance, how did the Weekend Update features do, all that fun stuff. So r slash Live from New York on reddit.com. [12:35] Yes. Yeah. Brendan makes a lot of SNL fans happy over there on Reddit with the sketch sorting Sundays and all that stuff. So it makes it easy to follow if you're an SNL fan on Reddit. So thank you so much, Brendan, for joining us today here on the SNL Hall of Fame. And I wanted to ask you, so we're talking about Dwayne The Rock Johnson. So how did The Rock get on your radar? Like you said before, you know, we were talking before the show that you're a wrestling fan. So when did you start taking notice of The Rock? I started watching wrestling in probably 06, 07, and he was pretty much gone by then, like actually in the limelight of professional acting instead of professional wrestling, So it took me awhile to know the name. My dad, who in the 90s and early 2000s was a big fan, absolutely said, this is the guy to watch. This is his charisma. This is the guy, one of the most entertaining people you'll ever watchin anything. [13:37] And I had a box set of his matches of his promos. And the charisma on this guy, it's hard to beat. And honestly, I'd say it's almost like we're talking about two different hosts here, because he was The Rock for two episodes, and DwayneJohnson for the other three so. I'm gonna go ahead and echo your dad's sentiments and your sentiments. I came across Dwayne Johnson well unknowingly at first I was I grew up as a Miami football fan so I know for sure that I watched him play college football. I just didn't know you know I think I knew the name Dwayne Johnson but it didn't quite obviously didn't quite click back then But in 96 is that when he joined joined the WWF and hewrestled under Rocky Maivia So I know you weren't there for Rocky Maivia like in the moment, but he was goofy He was this goofy guy who had a lot of baby fat on him The fans didnot like the rock even though he was supposed to be a good guy They actually you know what they chanted Brennan. Oh, tell me rocky sucks. [14:49] You're not supposed to chant that back in the night in 96 you weren't supposed to chant that for a baby face So things weren't going well for the rock This might have to turn into alike a Wrestling like spin-off of this because I mean, it's so interesting seeing how you know, he was part of the Samoan dynasty, if you want to call it that way. People won't really know about that, but like Roman Reigns nowadays. [15:16] He's nothing without partly the Rock and his part of the family for sure. Yeah. Rikishi, the Usos, all this fun stuff. Yokozuna. Yokozuna, yep. Yeah. Umaga. So like a huge wrestling dynasty was part of the Rock's lineage. His dad, Rocky Johnson, was a wrestler. His grandfather, Peter Maivia, so that's where the name came from. Rocky Maivia was a combination of Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia. So so the Rock as he was called Rocky Maivia didn't have a great start in the WWF He was booed not not getting over with the fans Then he switched up his persona be more outspokenand edgy and his personality really shined through he started doing stuff with the nation of domination and Things just sort of clicked for the Rock and they like then and that's the whatyou were talking about Brennan and that's the rock that people started really getting to know. He became one of the best talkers in wrestling history, and I wanna hone in on a word that you said to describe him, because it's the one word that I kept writing down as I was takingnotes and watching his stuff, his charisma. [16:25] Maybe the most charismatic wrestler I think I've ever seen. Maybe, arguably, the best on the mic in professional wrestling history. I don't know how you feel about that. I it's um, yeah, it's almost not close like for a guy that was gonna play both sides of the field if you want to talk about, you know, the best baby face of all time you get John Cena and Likesoon enough. He hosted the show did a phenomenal job in his episode if you ask me, but if you were not watching wrestling you pretty much probably still knew who the Rock was because he hit waymore boxes than just just fighting in the square and circle, so. And he, I would say, for my money, he is the best talker in rep wrestling history. Like you have Ric Flair, who's up there, John Cena was great, Hulk Hogan was a decent talker. I mean, he just had something about him. Obviously, he resonated with almost the entire country. And Hulk Hogan was actually the first professional wrestler to be an SNL host. So The Rock was kind of following in those footsteps. So, you know, long story short, The Rock became one of the most popular professional wrestlers in history. Super charismatic. We flashed forward to March 18th, 2000. That was season 25 of SNL. [17:49] So just before we get into specifics regarding his first show, just to lay the groundwork, like what's your general thought on Dwayne Johnson as an SNL host. And I know there's kind of two different categories, but just kind of overall, like when you think of Dwayne as a host, like what kind of comes to mind? If you watch all five episodes, or if you watch an episode or two, or just random sketches, You're either going to see the rock as... A hero character, a big guy, a sexy guy, a sports player, or I would just say grabbing a cast member and ragdolling them as part of the sketch. And you know what? He's not half bad as a singer either. Yeah, that kind of surprises me. Yeah, he showed all and as we went through his, you know, from the first time he hosted up untilhis fifth time, we saw a progression. We saw him kind of flexing his proverbial muscles in a lot of different ways. [18:49] So with this first episode that he hosted, again, this was season 25, episode 15. We're looking at March 18th, 2000. He was billed as The Rock. So he hadn't done any acting before this. He was known as The Rock, the professional wrestler. And Brennan, they really leaned into that professional wrestling. Absolutely. Persona like with the monologue. So what did you think of this monologue and kind of how they set up the show even I think the cold open like so What do you think about how the show began? Yeah, so I'm gonna drop another term for the people that don't know anything about wrestling, but this is a 100% kayfabe cold open the wrestlers the heels as people would say the facesthese heel wrestlers and and the chairman of the WWF at the time, Vince McMahon, show up in the cold open talking about how much they despise The Rock. Big Show, Mick Foley as, maybe it would have been Cactus Jack at the time, or just one of his characters. Triple H is there, The Big Show is there, and all they wanna do is understand why The Rock got this opportunity and they did not because The Rock is a terrible, terrible, terrible personand a terrible wrestler. [20:13] Why do we have to watch this guy and not beat him up because that's all we do three or four times a week on Monday Night Raw? If you're on Monday Night Raw, so one of these guys are going to be wr…

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Season 4 Nominee Draft Aug 14, 2023

Show notes

jD, Matt, and Thomas are joined by SNN host Jon Schnieder to hash out the list of nominees for the upcoming Season 4 at the SNL Hall of Fame.TranscriptTrack 2:[0:41] All right, thank you so much, Doug Donats. It's JD here, and we are back for season four of the SNL Hall of Fame, and I am glad you are here with us. We have a gangbusters show for you today, a peek behind the curtain, you might say. The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair. Each episode, we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest, or writer, and add them to the ballot for your consideration. Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity inside the hall. That's right, that's what we do here. If you're looking for long-form interviews with super fans of SNL, talking about great icons of SNL, you have come to the right place, my friends. So I'm glad you're here. The number one question that we get asked is how do we come up with the nominees? Why didn't we do all of the seventies nominees at once? Why didn't we do all of the eighties nominees at once? And the truth is we started this project very late from a hall of fame perspective. If this were a legitimate hall of fame. [2:03] Ooh, that pains me to say. If this were a hall of fame that were officially recognized by SNL, it would have started probably around 82 or 83, and they would have been inductingpeople annually, and it would have been smaller lists and things like that would have occurred. What we are doing here is we are producing a podcast. And so we try to curate a list of nominees that span the eras and span the genres of the show, so that we can highlight a great swath of what makes this nearly 50-year institution so great. [2:43] And that's what we're going to do this week. This is the Season 4 Draft. We have Matt Ardill, we have Thomas Senna, and we have John Schneider from the Saturday Night Network joining us this week. And what they are going to do is they are going to do a draft. There will be five rounds of the draft, and basically the way it breaks down is each person must select at least one musical guest writer. [3:13] They must pick one previous nominee from season one, and the remainder they can use however they wish. So they could have two musical guests and three hosts or three cast members. They can do it however they wish to break down as long as they survive those parameters. So why don't I stop yakking and tell you to wipe your feet and invite you inside for this, the season four draft. Stick around after the show because I have a big announcement to make about the draft but I don't want to interrupt it off the top. We're going to listen to it, we're going to enjoy it andwe're going to go from there. So let's do it. Let's head down to the draft room. Track 3:[4:15] All right, welcome to the SNL Hall of Fame inaugural candidate drafts. Uh, I'm really excited about this idea. And I think this is going to go a long way in helping our audience better understand exactly the process that we can use to select the nominees. It has been, uh, debated and argued on Reddit and Facebook that, you know, it should be chronological, uh, however, you know, we didn't start this in 1985 or 1983. We started it in 2020 or 2021, I guess it was. So as a result, we, we tend to program the candidates and we, we, we try to pick a good good section of candidates that run the gamut of eras so that our audience has an interesting placeto listen from. You. [5:25] Today, we've got three special guests that are going to be selecting in this inaugural candidate draft. We have to my left, Mr. John Schneider of the Saturday Night Network. How are you doing, John? I'm doing great, Jamie. Four seasons in, my feet have never been cleaner, so I am ready to go tonight. Excellent. Excellent. We're also joined by our friend, Matt Ardill. Matt, how's it going? Great. I bought, brought brand new shoes just for, for tonight, so I'm being mindful of the space. Well, submit that receipt so you can get that, you can get that moneyback. [6:07] And of course, our friend Thomas Senna. Thomas, how's it going? What's up, Jamie? How are you doing? I'm great. I'm really great. A little warm, but but other than that, other than that, right? Yeah, it dawned on me today that Matt and I, well, John's gonna essentially be assigning homework to me and Matt, and we'll be assigning homework to each other since Matt does thegreat job with the trivia stuff at the top of the show, and then I'll lead the conversations and whatnot. So this is kind of like finding out our homework assignments or opening a gift, I guess, if you will, opening 15 gifts. We're creating the syllabus. Yes. Yes. Yes, so you can use this as a jumping off point. This is the first time we've really, well, no, I guess at the beginning of season two, we announced who we were nominating as well, but thisis the first time you get to look behind the scenes and see how this stuff occurs. So there will be discussion, there will be debate, there will be some, oh, noes, I wanted to pick him or her. [7:10] Well, I do want to point out, Jamie, that this is a rare draft in which if somebody take your pick, that's actually a pretty good thing. Like I would be stoked if Matt or John took somebody who was like high on my board that I was definitely gonna pick, you know what I'm saying? Okay, interesting. Yeah. Interesting take. Okay, well. What are your expectations going into this? Does it does anybody have any trepidations or expectations? [7:38] I'm just excited to hear everybody's choice. I think it's going to be fun to hear the reasoning that people have. Like, this is why I think they should be in the Hall of Fame. Excellent. I think for me, the first three seasons have definitely created a backlog at the Hall of Fame. And I think that now we're I would say that there may be a few nominees tonight that you may consider on the edge of like great cast members to perhaps Pantheon, but I think we're likefinally out of the points where we're hitting on people that are all time legends of the show. And now we're just getting for the very good if not greats of SNL history. And when you get to those types of people to nominate, it creates a lot of debate. So I feel like the people we're nominating today will create even better episodes for all of you this season. [8:25] Yeah, kind of, yeah, kind of to echo what, what John said, um, to me, it's not so much about if this person is going to be in the hall of fame or is like a lock for the hall of fame orwhatever. It's what could make a good episode. And to me, like we're doing a podcast here and I'm leading a lot of these, most of these conversations if not all of them. And to me, I'm thinking like, is this person somebody who I want to spend an hour talking about and there will be picks who some people might say oh that person's not a hall of famer butyou know is it an interesting discussion is more so where I'm going toward and some there's don't get me wrong there's people on my list who I think should be slam dunks in the hall offame but that's not like the end all be all of my thought process with this. [9:18] Great. Well, without further ado, then, let's begin. [9:23] John, you're on the clock. All right, very exciting. So many options, so many possibilities. But I think I landed on since I knew that I had the first pick coming to this, someone who I felt had to get on to the ballot for this particular season. And I wanted to make sure because of the way and restrictions that of all the people that I picked today, I wanted to make sure that I got this person and, and not necessarily matterThomas because I'm in love with this particular former cast member who came on to the show at a time that I felt like she crushed it. So many characters, so many impressions, and really made her mark as we were starting to go from one era to another and that person is Anna Gasteyer. Somebody who I feel has to be nominated for the Hall of Fame. When she comes on she has so much chemistry with other cast members, including Will Ferrell, who, with Bobby Mohan called what they did the calls together was so so great. Howabout her impressions? You know, you can't forget Martha Stewart, we see it every single year at Thanksgiving. There's just so many moments for Anna on the show. And you're going to get to listen to an episode of hers where somebody is going to make the case of why she gets in the Hall of Fame. And today I am only picking people who I think have a good shot to get there. Interesting. I like the strategy on a gas tire as your first pick. I think that's a real solid pick. And I look forward to hearing that episode for sure and learning a little bit more about her. Any other comments? [10:52] Well, Thomas, Matt, did you guys have her on your board? Yeah, sure. She was on my board. She was I wasn't definitely going to pick her, but she was definitely a high up there asfar as consideration. And I think it's going to be a really great episode. I'm looking forward to having that discussion about on a gas tire, just a true gem from a really strong era. So I think that's a wonderful pick. Like, I'm excited. Like, this is I got to open a present just now and it was on a gas tire. So so thank you, John. I'm looking forward to this. I didn't have her on my list, but mainly because I'm trying to avoid just picking people from like my period of Saturday Night Live. That's my high school years right there. I love her. She's an amazing performer. But and I am really looking forward to the episode because that's a perfect choice, perfect choice. And I'll just say, as we wrap up the discussion on Anna, the other major factor why I wanted to pick her today was because of American Auto. And I really feel like if you're going to pick somebody who's still in the zeitgeist, that would help boost her potentially getting into the hall of fame. So that's where I felt like it would be a good decision to start with her. [11:59] Yeah, it's always interesting when, I mean, there were a couple episodes last season where Thomas and I discussed, should we move this episode to this spot because something'sgoing on in, in the zeitgeist. And in a couple of cases, we did make a few little switches. In another case, we just couldn't put it together. And maybe that person will be listed today. I'm very curious if that person is listed today. [12:26] But yeah, I think a great pick. All right, we'll move over to Matt. All right, well, my number one, I started with a writer because the writers are the unsung heroes of the show. Um, I chose Sarah Schneider, hilarious talent, uh, from 2011 to 2017. She was co-head writer in the 42nd season. Um, in 2016, she had a new show come out. That is also hilarious, uh, with former, uh, SNL alumni, co-head writer, Chris Kelly, um, called the other two. So she's still out there. The new season of that just dropped, but she's consistently bringing work, consistently working with SNL colleagues like Molly Shannon is in the other two funnyas hell. And she's shown that she's flexible in creating sketches from like do it in my twin bed to the 2015 Democrat debate sketch. So she can do like from the silly side to the political side. And I just always I love the material that that she helped bring to the screen. [13:42] I'm not from I'm not familiar with her, but I know those two sketches. You just mentioned so I guess I am familiar with her after all are there any other Sketches that you can think of around around the round the table. Oh, so are you asking us? Yeah, just around the table Yeah, well, can I just ask for the first part? [14:01] Are we nominating Sarah Schneider and Chris Kelly together because I feel like with other notable duos in terms of writers They were definitely paired together and in this case It'shard to find sketches that Sarah Schneider wrote without Chris Kelly or vice versa. That's a good point I mean, you know, they want because they were co-head writers. They did Collaborate a lot. They weren't a team per se Like some of the more well-known teams, but they did collaborate a lot. So should we pair them like we have with some of the other writers, but that makes sense my my feeling and I'll Throw this to the group. But my feeling is that we should ideally get away from groups groups, um, it's, it seems to be some sort of liability. I mean, we had to wait for a long time to see the lonely island get in and Franklin and Davis are still, you know, cusping it. Um, so let me just, let me just present you the other side, Jamie, because I'm just looking through some of our stuff at the Saturday Night Network, some of the writing credits over theyears, and I see about 110 sketches that I have Sarah Schneider listed on, and I'd say 90% of them are with Chris Kelly. Oh, wow. Well, then, I mean, that that makes a very strong argument. Yeah. [15:17] And in that case, then I nominate the pair because that's an even stronger combination in my mind. I mean, we can also add in the stepchild sketch to the list of really amazingsketches. It's the that that weird well play play set in the backyard where kids could just mope at a well as part of that. They did. So she knows together also all those that trio of to Tino sketches. Yeah. Oh, wow. They're they're they're a great combination. And if I get to combine them, more is the better because I love them both. Great. Well, did anybody else have them on their board? [15:58] I did not. forward to doing more research on Sarah Schneider and Chris Kelly and and their work. So this is one Matt that I don't going in I'm probably aware of most if not all of the sketches that they're behind I just don't know that it was them who wrote them. So I'm looking forward to digging in and and doing this episode. [16:22] Awesome. I can't wait to hear it Well Thomas pass the baton to you your first pick Alrighty, so I'm just gonna get this one out of the way. I don't think this is gonna surprise especially John much because he knows How much I love this person and I think at first glance this person People might kind of wonder, you know Isthis person to SNL Hall of Famer or not? But if you really dig into their work, and we've referenced already like at least three four sketches, Just on this our discussion right now That this person's been in I think they got lost inthe shuffle a little bit but not because they weren't Great on the show. It's just because maybe some of the other cast members Maybe got a little more attention for one reason or another so I'm gonna do I'm gonna pick Vanessa bear as my as my first pick.And I already have a guest lined up for that. I've already been doing some willing and dealing behind the scenes. So I have a guest lined up for Vanessa Bear. I think it's gonna be a really good episode. We had mentioned the Totino's trio of sketches that she was in. [17:31] She just has recurring characters that were memorable. Anytime, I think anytime she was in a sketch, she just really elevated it and brightened it up. So I'm so excited. I'm maybe in our little SNL community, I might be the biggest VanessaBair fan. So this one's kind of personal to me, but so Vanessa Bair, there you go. That smile. It just it's it's infecti…

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Episode 20 - The Class of Season Three! Jun 19, 2023

Show notes

Join Thomas and Jamie as they toast the comedic giants who have shaped the legacy of Saturday Night Live! Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to celebrate the Class of Season Three and all of the talented individuals who have tickled our funny bones and made staying in on Saturday Night a right of passage. We also take a moment to analyze future classes by looking at the voting records of several candidates that missed the mark this season. We're so grateful to all of our listeners but especially the ones that stepped up to vote this season, we had a record number of ballots cast.!So grab your favourite snack and settle in for a conversation that is sure to raise some eyebrows and fuel water cooler debate. It's the SNL Hall of Fame: Class of Season Three!Transcript0:00:42 - JDAll right, thank you so much, Doug. This is JD here and you are about to enter the SNL Hall of Fame. Please wipe your feet before you come inside, as we don't want any filth in the Hall of Fame. The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair. In each episode, we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest or writer and add them to the ballot for your consideration. Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity in the hall. And that day has come. I am joined by Thomas Senna and we are going to go down the results and take a look at who has made it into the Hall of Fame and who missed the cut this year, who will be eliminated from the ballot and all sorts of other good stuff. So, before I go any further with this information dump, I'm going to say hi to my friend here, Thomas, how are you doing? 0:01:49 - ThomasHello Jamie, I'm doing very well. This is a special occasion. I got my tucks on and my bow tie. Let's announce some inductees. 0:01:57 - JDWell, before we do that, we'll just quickly go through the parameters that people had to cut through to make it. You need 66.6% of the ballot to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. If you don't get at least 10% of the ballot, you are eliminated from the Hall of Fame And, of course, you stay on the ballot for 10 seasons. So we're only in season three. We don't have any jeopardy of that happening thus far, so that's good. That's good news. What are you most excited about today, Thomas? 0:02:35 - ThomasSeeing if some of the people who I thought deserved to be in the Hall of Fame if they actually make it. So one group in particular, one writing group in particular, has been a sticking point with me as far as not making the Hall of Fame. So I was going into this reveal just super curious to see if they would make it, if the Lonely Island, let's say it if the Lonely Island would finally make the SNL Hall of Fame. I think they've been deserving since they were on the ballot in season one, that's right. So that was my main thing going into it. this is where the hell is the Lonely Island? So I don't know. We'll see if they're in this time around. 0:03:16 - JDYeah, we definitely will. Okay, well, I can tell you off the top we have the biggest Hall of Fame class, the largest Hall of Fame class that we've ever had, the most members inducted into the Hall of Fame that we've ever had, which is staggering. We had a record number of voters turn out, like over 100 more than last year. We finished with 297 different voters. That's pretty impressive to me that you all came out and exercised your comedic franchise. That's just wonderful news. So I don't know, do we just go right into it? Let's get into it. All right, who is our headliner this year? Thomas, who made it with the most. 0:03:58 - ThomasSo with the most votes this season, at 83.2% of the vote we have, mr Dana Carvey is an SNL Hall of Famer. No surprise, i don't know about you, Jamie, but I thought this was a slam dunk Dana's in the conversation for greatest of all time. 0:04:17 - JDI think Absolutely. 0:04:18 - ThomasHe's like a great of all time Mount Rushmore. Those are the conversations that Dana is in. So Dana Carvey in with 83.2% of the vote. Congratulations, Dana. 0:04:31 - JDYeah, a cast member with the most percentage this year. Just a machine really. I mean, if you listen to Fly on the Wall now, it's aggravating to a certain degree because everything that somebody says spawns a bit. but I just think that's how his brain works. He's just always on. He's always thinking about how to make people laugh and how to leverage the different characters and impressions that he's been able to harness over the years and be fresh with them. He's truly a great, great SNL great. 0:05:09 - ThomasYeah, i don't know if it's cliche to say, but he's one of those guys where if you were going to go into a lab and build an SNL cast member, it might come out exactly like Dana Carvey. Yeah, and that was such a good point that you mentioned. Like he's just, he's all about the bit, he's all about what's going to serve the comedy, and you can hear it in his podcast and he'll even tell you that he might do it a little too much. Like he's said that maybe he steps on the guests a little bit, but that's because that's how his mind works. He's trying to. He's trying to find the bit in everything that he's talking about, and sometimes he doesn't have that thing where it's just like well, maybe, maybe I'll just wait my turn or whatever. I'll tell you that. But I think that served him so well when he was an SNL cast member, so deserving to be an SNL Hall of Famer. 0:05:56 - JDAbsolutely, Dana. The plaque is in the mail. Next on the list is another cast member and another first-ballot Hall of Famer, and that is Amy Poehler, with 75.1% of the ballot. What do you think about Amy Poehler, Thomas? 0:06:15 - ThomasYeah, I think another very deserving one. I think she was arguably maybe the face before Kristen Wigg got there. Maybe there was a little overlap, but I think Amy was arguably the face of her era of SNL. I think she was very beloved in her era. I know Jon Schneider had told us some crazy stats about Amy Poehler as far as just the sheer amount of sketches and the percentage of sketches that she was in when she was a cast member at SNL. But I think man, 75%, three forwards, that's probably about what I thought Amy would get, and rightfully so. I mean she was just a fantastic sketch performer. What do you think, Jamie? 0:06:59 - JDI think she did it all Like she really was a five-tool player when you think about it because she started out as a sketch performer. She started out as a featured player and sketch performer, and then she had a second life as a weekend update anchor she was tremendous at that as well. You know, working both with Seth and Tina Fey. She did it all Like she did it all, Like she is somebody who did it all and excelled, Like she did it all at a very high level, I guess I should say. And to me, I thought for sure she would make it. But the SNL Hall of Fame is tricky sometimes. Sometimes you don't get what you think. 0:07:42 - ThomasThe will of the people, man, that's right What this is. 0:07:46 - JDIn this case, it turned out in favour, So that's good Yeah. 0:07:50 - ThomasCongratulations to Amy Poehler for making it. So the next person, the next inductee that we have, also the first time on the ballot, with 74. 74.4% of the vote we have, but maybe not. Maybe not an original cast member, but pretty darn close to an original cast member. It's Bill Murray getting 74% of the vote on his first time on the ballot. Bill Murray, SNL Hall of Famer and you, Bill Murray fan, Jamie. 0:08:22 - JDI'm a huge Bill Murray fan. I had a renaissance with him, i think, when a lot of people did from his role in Rushmore. So that really got me back into him and it made me go back and look at the Saturday Night Live stuff. And if you think about it, he was really in a tough, tough position replacing Chevy Chase who was doing feature films and on the cover of magazines. Chevy Chase was, you know, it, it boy, and Bill Murray had some big shoes to fill And I think he did a great job. He became, you know, a leading man ask because Acroyd stayed in a sort of a glue role And Murray ended up getting a lot of you know, a lot of the male-centric parts and Did a fantastic job with it just fantastic. 0:09:14 - ThomasYeah, I think Bill would even tell you or admit that he Was having trouble in his mind gaining traction initially. That's why he did the whole plea to the audience sketch where he sat down and said hello, I'm Bill Murray. I'm not quite hitting on the show and here's why I think I'm not. And here, trust me, i am funny. Regardless of what you've seen on the show. I am a funny person. I'm just not funny on the show. So he was. So I think you know a lot of that was a great bit. But I think a lot of that was rooted in maybe something real that he thought like why am I not connecting? like why are you know? and, ironically, like his first show ever that he did was he was in a lot and he did a really great job. But maybe he had a string of shows where he Felt like he wasn't in much and he did that, that plea to the audience, that just really propelled him and then he had, you know, we ended up seeing Nick the lounge singer and Just so many of the nerds. There are so many memorable characters and he was just so Magnetic. He knew how to just grab the audience and take them whatever Bill wanted to take them. 0:10:22 - JDYeah, yeah, and he's continued to do so in his post-signal career as well. So, really wonderful, I'm, I'm, I'm so happy that Bill Murray made it on the first ballot because it would have been a tough one, like the next one, to explain to people No, no, he didn't make it on the first ballot. The next one we go to is Another cast member, another first ballot, Hall of Famer with seventy-three point seven percent, and that's John Belushi. Belushi, of course, little divisive in, you know, in our, in our current era, that we are in because we, we we've just got access to so much more information than we've ever had before. And There was a little bit of misogyny there. You know there were a lot of drugs, but he had a way of peeling through all of that and Making himself very magnetic on the screen. Very funny, very funny. I was never a giant blue she fan, i was a Murray guy. But there's no doubt that blue she belongs. There's no doubt in my mind. 0:11:29 - ThomasYeah, there's no doubt for me either in the seventy-three point seven percent, maybe a little lower than I would expect, but that, like you mentioned, you few factors in some of the things like the misogyny. A lot of times he didn't treat his Cohorts on the show as well. I maybe look down on them because of some misogyny that he had and that's factored in and as it should be, I think. If, if somebody values that and wants to keep Belushi off because of that, then I Absolutely agree with that. But his, since I've been doing this show and kind of getting in more to maybe the Original cast and watching sketches more in-depth, I've come to really appreciate some of the subtlety that Belushi brought to the screen, especially with the samurai. I just his, with his just facial expressions, with the samurai and his movements, and he could do it all as a sketch comedian. He wasn't. He wasn't just on the guy who yells a lot or on the guy who does pratfalls, as Belushi could do, could do everything he can. He can play it really straight and subtly He can. Only he can act with his eyes. He could be funny with just his movements. He could say clever things. So I think just all around what a sketch performer Belushi was has really I've really taken notice of that since I've been going back and watching a lot of the original cast, so I think I think Belushi definitely deserving. 0:12:56 - JDWell, drum roll. Can we get a drum roll for our fifth nominee? 0:13:05 - ThomasThe lonely island is in the SNL Hall of Fame With seventy-three point four percent of the vote. We have the lonely island Third time on the ballot. So they went up from fifty-two point nine to sixty-two to seventy-three percent of the vote. So I think I've been banging this drum hard. I know, Jamie, you've been, you've been kind of wondering, you've been Extolling the virtues of the Lonely Island. I know our buddy, Jon Schneider, has been confused as to why the lonely island is not in the SNL Hall of Fame. But they finally are the lonely island Well deserving. You could still feel their impact, almost what. Now, 17 years, 18 years After they started doing their thing on SNL, they changed the structure of the show in a lot of ways, the presentation of the show. That's still felt today as far as pre-tapes and expectations of pre-tapes, and just iconic, just Influential. I'm so happy about this.0:14:08 - JDYeah, me too. I really only have a three-word Response, and that is lonely no more. They are on an island of Hall of Famers, and they rightfully are on that island. So Really glad to see that we don't have to have this debate with people anymore. 0:14:28 - ThomasYes, I know exactly, I don't have to get frustrated anymore. So congratulations, Andy and Akiva and Jorma, you three are SNL Hall of Famers. 0:14:37 - JDAll right, our first host, this fellow, made a tremendous jump. I'm not even sure it's Mathematically possible the jump that he made, going from 47.4% last year to 73%, and that is the store of the 90s, John Goodman. I have no issues with John Goodman being in the Hall of Fame whatsoever. He was there when I was there. I got to watch him every year. You know he's been a great friend of the show in terms of guest spots and You know if you were to write a guidebook of What what a good guest looks like, i think there'd be a chapter in that book that would be called John Goodman. 0:15:25 - ThomasYeah, he said. He said in the archetype for what a great SNL host is, he was on, I believe, 11 or 12 seasons in a row as Homes, from last 89 to 2001 or something. So he spanned the entire 90s And beyond. I think it was 11 or 12 Episodes and or seasons in a row. Because he was old, reliable, because he was so good, like if he was one of those were the cast when they, when Lorne would be in the office and say, well, we have John Goodman coming in in March to host, and the cast would be like wonderful like it's not that the cast could take The show off, but they knew that they would have somebody to play with and it would ease a lot of The burden that was put on the cast to put on a great show. They knew that they had somebody coming in who could live up to putting on a great show with them. Goodman was just in so a lot of good one-offs I don't know if you remember the sketch where he played the referee and he was. They were doing the show, the talk show, and it was fans asking the referee. Yes, this is basically just berating the, berating him the whole time.0:16:30 - JDThat's a one-off sketch Yeah yeah, he was. 0:16:35 - ThomasHe was a Cajun chef with, when he was on with the Phil Hartman, that recurring sketch, the anal retentive chef and John Goodman came in and played a Cajun chef and they were playing off each other Really well. He's one of the Braske guys, the Bill Braske guys absolutely so many Iconic things that Goodman came in and did. Whether it was recurring or one-off, goodman brought so much to the table and, yeah, 47% in season two. I think maybe some of the seas parted maybe after season two as far as who g…

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Episode 19. Season 3 Round Table #3 Jun 12, 2023

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Get ready to dive headfirst into a heated debate about the nominees for the SNL Hall of Fame! Join jD and his esteemed panel - Jon Schneider, Andy Hoglund, and Andrew Clark - as we dissect the 15 new nominees and discuss who should make the cut. With a stacked lineup of talent to choose from, this episode is guaranteed to be a rollercoaster ride of opinions and insights.We kick things off by discussing the legendary John Belushi and Bill Murray, delving into their legacies and why they should undoubtedly be inducted into the Hall of Fame. We also tackle the question of whether the Lonely Island crew deserves a spot on the ballot, and explore the impact of other SNL greats like Buck Henry, Dana Carvey, and Christopher Walken. Strap in for a whirlwind of passionate opinions and spirited debates about the show's most iconic contributors.As we wrap up our discussion, we shift the focus to other nominees like Dana Carvey, Rosie Schuster, Jeff Richards, and Don Pardo, debating their merits and contributions to the show. We even consider the role of music in SNL's identity and touch on the possibility of an annual honorary award. Don't miss this exciting episode as we weigh in on who should be immortalized in the SNL Hall of Fame!Transcript0:00:08 - Speaker 1It's the SNL Hall of Fame podcast with your host, jamie Dube, chief librarian Thomas Senna, and featuring Matt Bardille And now curator of the hall, jamie Dube. 0:00:42 - Speaker 2Hey and welcome to the SNL Hall of Fame round table. It's JD here and I'm glad to be joining you once again on the SNL Hall of Fame, a podcast which is a weekly affair. Each episode, we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest or writer and add them to the ballot for your consideration. Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity in the hall. Well, this isn't a normal episode. This is a very special episode. We have put all the nominations up, There have been 15 new nominees added to the remaining ballot And today we're going to invite some people to share their ballots and go from there. So why don't we introduce who we've got to? my immediate right is John Schneider. How are you doing, John? 0:01:37 - Speaker 3I'm doing great, Jamie. Always great to be here. Feet are wiped and ready to go. 0:01:42 - Speaker 2Excellent, oh, i didn't say it The one time I don't say it. 0:01:46 - Speaker 3We don't just say you know like it's not like a foot fetish thing. Jamie always introduces and tells people to wipe their feet. So it's not John being, you know, having a fit thing. 0:01:56 - Speaker 4I think John just kind of a little revealing about himself. actually, That's my takeaway. 0:02:00 - Speaker 3I mean, they do call this the SNL Hall of Feet. Right, That's where we are. 0:02:04 - Speaker 4Yes, of course John's not on his show, so he's getting a little racy. 0:02:08 - Speaker 2We don't got the teens listening in. He's got the host belt off. 0:02:14 - Speaker 3Let's go. 0:02:16 - Speaker 2All right, Andrew. Hey, how's it going I? 0:02:19 - Speaker 5am super duper, feeling great. It's very sunny here in Toronto. 0:02:23 - Speaker 2Excellent. And Andy Hogland, how are you doing? 0:02:27 - Speaker 4Hey, I'm going. Good man, It's Hogland. Though I'm just going to be straight, It's pronounced Hogland. 0:02:31 - Speaker 2Did I just do it. I just asked you and then I did it. 0:02:34 - Speaker 4You just asked me, so that's why I'm calling it out. 0:02:35 - Speaker 2Oh that's great. No, you can totally do that, because No, I'm feeling good, man. 0:02:39 - Speaker 4I'm surrounded by a couple of Canadians, which is cool. I've never had that before. It's like having an orgy with Justin Trudeau. Let's do this. I'm just keeping it racy. John set the tone. 0:02:52 - Speaker 3Yeah, I thought we were just doing foot stuff. Andy, You took it to a whole other level. 0:02:57 - Speaker 2All right, let's dive into our program today. The first thing I want to do is to remind everybody who is currently in the SNL Hall of Fame We've had two wonderful seasons and we've inducted three separate classes. The inaugural class was, of course, lauren Michaels. In this class of season one, we inducted Dan Ackroyd, chris Farley, tina Fey as a writer, phil Hartman, steve Martin as a host, eddie Murphy and Gilda Radner All, if they weren't noted, were cast members. Then the class of season two we had Alec Baldwin as a host, will Ferrell as a cast member, bill Hader as a cast member, tom Hanks as a host, norm MacDonald as a cast member, seth Meyers as a writer, mike Meyers as a cast member and Kristen Wiig as a cast member. So pretty highfalutin company to be rubbing elbows with. But we've got a really excellent list of nominees and I just want to go through them for you before we kick off the show, because this is a stellar list right here. Amy Poehler, beyonce, Bill Murray, bach, henry, candice Bergen, christopher Walken, conan O'Brien, dana Carvey, dave Grohl, dick Ebersol, drew Barrymore, elliott Gould, elvis Costello, emma Stone, frank and Davis, herb Sargent, jack Handy, james Downey, jan Hooks, jane Curtin, john Belushi, john Goodman, john Malaney, justin Timberlake, lily Tomlin, maya Rudolph, melissa McCarthy, michael O'Donohue, miley Cyrus, molly Shannon, paul McCartney, paul Rudd, paul Simon, paul LaPell, prince, rihanna, robert Smigel, scarlett Johansson, the Lonely Island and Tom Pretty and the Heartbreakers Guys, this would be a great if this was the lineup for the 50th anniversary show. you would be like that's a pretty freaking good lineup. 0:05:06 - Speaker 4And how did John Belushi get out of his get out of hell? 0:05:11 - Speaker 2Oh boy, oh boy, it's on already. Well, no comment, let's jump right into it. Then We'll start to my right with John, and the way we'll do this is John will announce one of his nominees. I will tabulate it here. I've got a little sheet that I'm keeping keeping score with to make sure that everybody stays in their allotment of 15 votes up to 15 votes and to make sure that everybody elects at least one of each of the four main categories. There's been a lot of questions with Dick Abrasall being nominated and he does not fall into any of the four categories. Currently He is a producer and that's where he'll stay. So John is going to name his first ballereteer and then I'll go to Andy and Andrew to ask if they have them on their ballot and we'll go from there. That's how this show is going to work. Let's do it, john, with your first pick. Who have you got? All right, you're on the clock. 0:06:10 - Speaker 3This is a stacked lineup of people to choose from, but looking through there is one person that I looked at this list and said there is no question whatsoever that they should not be on everyone's ballot. This person has to get into the SNL Hall of Fame and it might be a little bit of a hot take, an unconventional pick, but it's Amy Poehler. And the reason why it's Amy Poehler is because she has the highest sketch per episode average among women in the history of the show. If you take out Charlie Rocket, she's actually top four among everybody in the history of the show. Before she was on the show, the show was on for 28 years or 27 seasons. There had never been a woman who led a season in sketch appearances until Amy Poehler did that. To me she is fantastic. Did weekend update, had amazing characters, impressions, blended a couple of eras. To me she is a surefire Hall of Famer. Slam Dunk. 0:07:10 - Speaker 2Wow, you heard it here first. Folks Slam Dunk, Andy, what do you think? 0:07:16 - Speaker 4Respectfully, amy is not on my ballot. Actually I totally understand John's rationale. I will say just as a bit of context you know, when Ryan Tibbs, when he circulates all the Hall of Fame ballots for baseball every year, i'm always fascinated by the rationale that individual voters give or don't give. I just think it's really fascinating color. So just for the listeners to adjust their radio dials to my frequency a little bit. I followed two rules when I came up with my ballot. The first is Justice Potter Stewart's famous phrase where he described his threshold for obscenity in his 1964 landmark Supreme Court decision, jacob vs Ohio, and I know it when I see it, which is to mean I instinctively have a very pure bar for who belongs or does not belong in the Hall of Fame, like Ted Knight and Caddyshack. But the second is also like baseball sportswriters, i'm leaning a little bit towards the historic picks, you know, and I'm a little disinclined to give it to some of the newer cast members. So Amy unfortunately sort of fell into that category a little bit where I just my mind went to more towards people in the 70s or 80s And Amy I kind of associate with some of the newer eras, even though it has been 20 years So she's not on my ballot And honestly she kind of mugs it a little bit for me So I don't like the mugging and I was just disinclined with everyone else who was available. 0:08:51 - Speaker 2Wow, shots fired. Yeah, Andrew, Mr Clark, I can do that too. 0:08:58 - Speaker 5Yes, i did have Amy on my ballot because I think that she was important for the show, for the success of that show and making it sort of, you know, rejuvenate itself when it did. And also I kind of see Amy Poehler and Tina Fey as being very important as influences in comedians who are now in their early 20s, who are inspired by those two. So I kind of number one her contributions, the characters that she brought, the writing that she brought, all of those strengths And then also, i think, her importance almost as something that people aspire to become. So now we have all these wonderful young comedians, female and female identifying comedians, who are doing a lot of work. So I kind of give her her props. But I could see and I agree 100% with Andy that you know we're going to get as we go down the list. There are some people who are very, very significant in the history of the show In the 70s. It may be people who just started watching in the last five to 10 years who recognized who. We're going to disappoint each other today, i guess, is what I'm trying to say, but I got to tell you I think Amy belongs in the whole thing. 0:10:11 - Speaker 4Can I challenge John on air right now? You can do whatever you want. John, if I'm not mistaken, I believe you and I are aligned that several of Amy's years are among the shows worse, is that not accurate? 0:10:28 - Speaker 3Yes, there are a couple in there that are rough. 0:10:33 - Speaker 4So, john, i just want to throw that out, not to call out, but being the best of the worst, that is a crazy argument, stop this. 0:10:42 - Speaker 3I'm sorry this is a crazy argument, because if you're going to say that, then we're saying anyone who participated in those two years. The fact is that Amy Poehler was not a cast member for those two years. She was a cast member for much longer, like I said, for six years in a row, from 2002 to 2008,. every single season she led the cast in sketch appearances. To me, she dominated those years on the show which, by the way, weren't just those two bad years. they led into a golden era of the show, probably for the first time in a generation. So I respect and I will have people on my ballot who were on the show in the 70s and the 80s, but we're not doing the Hall of Fame of the 70s, we're doing the Hall of Fame of Saturday Night Live and, let's be real, amy Poehler has been a major part of the second half of the existence of the show. 0:11:27 - Speaker 4Yeah, no argument, just wanted to get that on the record briefly, just for full context, that John does think Amy's era is among the worst. 0:11:37 - Speaker 3I did not know. That is not what I think, but I'll fight you on that another time. 0:11:44 - Speaker 2Yeah, let's move forward here and, Andrew, we're going to continue with you. 0:11:48 - Speaker 5Okay, well, my pick is somebody who, without whom I don't think there would be have been any history of Saturday Night Live. It's someone who, when he sadly passed away, my friends and I held a toga party for which I was roundly punished by my parents. We were at the ripe old age of 16. I'm talking about John Belushi. So I believe that John Belushi absolutely has to be in the Hall of Fame because he and that cast, and him and Dan Acroy particularly, were really what made the whole thing explode. Chevy Chase was a huge part of it, but I think they were the engine that really ran the show And he was the first true, true breakout star. He had a much brighter trajectory, if you ask me, than Chevy Chase. I'm going to. I got to say John Belushi's hands down, in my opinion, has to be in. 0:12:39 - Speaker 2Great pick. 0:12:40 - Speaker 4Thank you, andy, totally agree, yeah, i mean. any words to use to describe John Belushi's legacy on SNL or in comedy have already been uttered before, so I don't have too much to contribute beyond that. continental divide is an underrated romantic comedy. 0:13:00 - Speaker 2All right, mr Schneider, he is definitely on the list. 0:13:04 - Speaker 3I'm of the belief that every original cast member should be in the Hall of Fame just by default for what it's worth. But you know there would be. You know Saturday Live was was good and Chevy obviously brought a lot, but there was nothing like the energy that John Belushi brought to the show, like he made it a, like he made it must watch television because he never knew what he was going to do on a given night, starting all the way from the beginning with the Joe Cocker stuff, moving to the Blues Brothers stuff, like everything. He was a force. So you know, like Andy said, there's been so much written about him. If you know SNL, you know John Belushi, even if he's been gone for so many years, and that's a testament to the legacy of him. So I think it's a no brainer to put him in. 0:13:40 - Speaker 2Yeah, so that's our first, our first, well, in honor of the new Zelda game, our first try for us. So, andy, who have you got up? 0:13:51 - Speaker 4I have Bill Murray, who is arguably the the most accomplished and talented cast member to come out of the show. You know, i think you know. All all things being equal, he does have a bit of asterisk on on his legacy, courtesy of Kiki Palmer, but nevertheless his accomplishments since living leaving 8h are Unrivaled. Give or take a ghostbuster, you know, oscar nomination or Wes Anderson collaboration. But look like, even those merits aside, you know Murray is a pivotal figure in the show's history, the first replacement cast member. There's been what like a hundred and seventy cast members in the show's history. Eight or nine, like John just mentioned, are that original 1975, you know, upstart, not ready for prime-time players. You know Murray sets the mold for joining a cast in midstream, which is a path that almost everyone else in the show's history has has had to emulate in one way or another. And Look, i'll be honest, i'm not in high school anymore. The, that combination of smarm and self-aware irony that made him a legend to Letterman fans and and the geeks and freaks and geeks. It doesn't quite do it for me as it as it once did, but still honker, the nerds, nick, the lounge slinger, his, his awards commentary on update. These are essential early…

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Episode 18. Season 3 Round Table #2 Jun 05, 2023

Show notes

Join us for a lively SNL Hall of Fame Roundtable discussion with our esteemed panel of SNL aficionados - Darrin Patterson, Jamie Burwood, Victoria Franso, and Deremy Dove. We dive into the credentials of our SNL Hall of Fame nominees, including the impact of musical guest Paul Simon and iconic cast members like Dana Carvey and Bill Murray. We also ponder the lasting effects of writers like Paula Pell on the show's legacy and debate the influence of guests like Christopher Walken, Conan O'Brien, and John Belushi.Our spirited conversation takes us through the contributions of John Goodman, Jim Downey, and Candice Bergen, considering their potential induction into the SNL Hall of Fame. We reminisce about Goodman's versatile performances and chemistry with fellow cast members, Downey's daring comedic choices, and Bergen's groundbreaking legacy as a host. Throughout the discussion, we examine each nominee's lasting impact on SNL and the comedy landscape.As the debate heats up, we touch on the credentials of beloved cast members like Molly Shannon and Bill Murray, and consider their iconic characters and performances. We also discuss the underappreciated talents of Anna Gasteyer and Cheri O'Teri, and explore Darren's outside-the-box pick for his ballot, Jan Hooks. So, prepare to laugh and reminisce with us as we celebrate the legends who shaped SNL and consider who deserves a coveted spot in the SNL Hall of Fame.Transcript0:00:08 - Speaker 1It's the SNL Hall of Fame podcast with your host, Jamie Dube, Chief Librarian Thomas Senna, and featuring Matt Bardille At now. Curator of the Hall, Jamie Dube. 0:00:41 - Speaker 2Yes, hello and welcome to the SNL Hall of Fame Roundtable. This is the show in which we invite SNL Hall of Fame voters, in this case all former guests on this podcast. We invite those voters former guests to share their ballot and their thought process behind their choices. So this is always an interesting exercise to get the psyche of some of our voters. So in previous roundtables as well, we've had panelists even cut deals with each other for votes. We've had panelists change each other's minds. So there's going to be some like, willing and dealing. There's going to be a lot of that going on, maybe tonight, maybe with our esteemed panelists that we have on this particular SNL Hall of Fame Roundtable. So why don't we get to it? Let's introduce our wonderful panel And I'm doing something a little different just off the top. I'm going to let the listeners know that I'm doing a little icebreaker question to just kind of briefly get to know each of our panelists. So the question is which current cast member not including Kenan Thompson, because he's the obvious choice? So which current cast member not including Kenan Thompson could you see in the SNL Hall of Fame one day? So that's going to be our little icebreaker once I introduce our wonderful guests. So let's get started. Darren Patterson. Cohost of the SNL Nerds podcast. Darren, thank you so much for returning. You were on our Tom Hanks and Dana Carvey episode. Tom Hanks and SNL Hall of Famer. We'll see about Dana Carvey. Thank you so much, darren, for joining me today. 0:02:19 - Speaker 4Thanks for having me, Tom. This is fantastic. 0:02:21 - Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, we're excited. So the question is aside from Kenan Thompson, which current SNL cast member could you see in the SNL Hall of Fame one day? 0:02:32 - Speaker 4I can only pick one, because I kind of. 0:02:34 - Speaker 2Well, I don't know. Let's see. Well, who's your main one? 0:02:38 - Speaker 4The main one from this cast, I probably would say Colin Geo's. Just because he's been on this show for so long, he's written so many, he's written a ton of called-opens and he's Him and Che have been the longest running SNL Weekend Update anchors, news anchors to date. That's why I was thinking, just and Che probably the duo I could definitely see making it into the Hall of Fame. I could also see Boan making it into the Hall of Fame in the future. I mean, you know, first Asian cast member and he's made so many memorable, you know, snl Weekend Update. 0:03:27 - Speaker 2Oh, the classic instant play, the Iceberg sketch alone. 0:03:30 - Speaker 4Just exactly, Yeah. And even before that, I still remember when he made his first appearance he wasn't a cast member. It was in the Sandra Oh episode where he had to keep playing. I forget who he played, but he loved and impressed a lot of people's minds. People were like who's that guy? That guy is hilarious. And then the next season he became the cast member, So I could see, I could see Joe's Che Boan. There you go, That's a little. I like that. 0:03:56 - Speaker 2I think Eggos is a good choice. I think Joe's and Che some day going in as a duo is interesting. It'd be like the Al Franken and Tom Davis, they kind of be on the ballot together. So yeah, wonderful choices. I can see all three of them some day. So next we have on our panel from TV show graphs. I say from TV show graphs, but I don't know if you are TV show graphs, if you just have taken on like that's your persona, like you are TV show graphs, or you're just from, or the creator of, tv show graphs. 0:04:28 - Speaker 5I'll take it either way. 0:04:30 - Speaker 2Just taking it either way. Yeah, so Jamie Burwood, who was a previous guest for the Molly Shannon episode in season one, also my guest for Will Ferrell, who is in the SNL Hall of Fame, and somebody who's on the ballot right now, christopher Walken. So, jamie, thank you so much for joining me and you got to answer this question. 0:04:48 - Speaker 5Yeah, the icebreaker Okay. So I feel like those were all really good answers. Bowen was my initial just like gut reaction. I feel like just in terms of like having that like it factor where I feel like he'll continue to have that like longevity and like association with the show. I would say my other like maybe future looking pick would be like JJ, just like thinking about where I could see things going in the next few years and just like how unique it is, i think, for someone to come in with such the positive reception that he had and I feel like there's just an element of what he's doing that feels like really timeless comedy that like people could continue to appreciate for many, many years. So I would throw him into the mix but agreed with the other, with the other options as well. 0:05:42 - Speaker 2Yeah, i could definitely see JJ master impressionist. I feel like we'll be talking about his impressions for years to come, like how we talk about Darrell Hammond, for instance. I think that's a really good choice. So, thank you so much. Jamie Next we have, who is the co host of the bigger than the game podcast, which is a really great sports and pop culture kind of podcast that I enjoy listening to, and he was my guest this season on the Dick Ebersol episode, which I found fascinating. He's going to be a really fascinating one here on the ballot. So, mr Jeremy Dove, thank you so much for joining me. Jeremy. 0:06:21 - Speaker 6Thomas, i'm so pumped to be on with everybody. I'm honored honestly to talk about SNL Hall of Fame and see if my ballot can measure up to everyone else's and I'm open minded. So if someone brings up a great point and maybe I'm like I got to add this person or cut someone off, so I'm excited. 0:06:39 - Speaker 2That's what we're doing here. We're willing and dealing. 0:06:41 - Speaker 6We're willing and dealing. 0:06:42 - Speaker 2Yeah, you can. You can exchange votes. You can talk somebody into or out of a vote. It's going to be yeah, you can do it this as you please. So, Jeremy, which current cast member not named Keenan Thompson Could you see in the SNL Hall of Fame someday? 0:06:55 - Speaker 6For me it was the slam dunk and you kind of made that point of the way. Like Franken and Davis are duo and they're always going to be remembered as that duo. But Colin Joest and Michael Che just what those two, the chemistry that they have, the way that they bring I always love it when someone makes weekend update appointment television And those two have really done that and they've really, you know, brought that to the zeitgeist where I know plenty of people who don't watch SNL but want to watch those two and see what they're going to do And I think also what they're doing, as you know, head writers and behind the scenes. I'm interested in, once they're done with the show, to kind of look at their legacy and see like they're going to be in that category where I don't know if we fully appreciate it all that they've, you know, put it to the show. So those are my two that I look at as slam dunk. Hall of famers. 0:07:49 - Speaker 2Yeah. So it sounds like when it's time for Michael Che and Joest to be up for consideration for the Hall of Fame, jamie do and I are going to have to have a conversation about should we put them in as a duo, right? Should we put them in together? So that, yeah, that's going to be interesting. You and Darren both brought up really great things for consideration. So, yeah, jeremy, thank you so much. And finally, we have someone who's an improv and sketch performer, currently based in Chicago, also a frequent guest on our good friends at the Saturday Night Network. She's a frequent guest on their network and also my recent guest on the Amy Poehler episode of the SNL Hall of Fame. So, victoria Fronto, thank you so much. Welcome to the SNL Hall of Fame round table. 0:08:36 - Speaker 3I am so excited to be here. This is my first, hopefully not my last, but this is a. It was very difficult to try to rank these people because you think everyone deserves not everyone, but deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. 0:08:52 - Speaker 2So, aside from Kenan Thompson, who we can all agrees the obvious choice among the current cast member, who from the current cast could you see in the SNL Hall of Fame someday? 0:09:03 - Speaker 3So I'll be really honest and say that this current cast is killer. They have some really awesome folks on here And I think, besides Kenan, the obvious would be as mentioned a few times here would be Colin Joseph and Michael Che, but I'm actually stuck between Chloe Feynman, heidi Gardner and Ego Newotem. I think yeah, i think Chloe Chloe's impressions and characters is are really one of a kind and really unique to her. And then, of course, heidi and Ego I think arguably too, could potentially be a duo as well, kind of like a teen and Amy situation. But yeah, those are the three I would say could be up in the Hall of Fame one day. 0:09:52 - Speaker 2Yeah, especially, i think I hope Ego and Heidi especially I think, they've turned in with a lot of. Chloe is still potential, but I think, with Heidi and Ego, i think they've already started to establish a body of work. Yeah, i hope they get their proper dues. So yeah, thank you so much for. 0:10:09 - Speaker 3I do want to give an honorable mention to James Austin Johnson Like I think Jamie just said too, because he did his first episode, was the first person we saw in a cold open. I don't think we've ever seen that. 0:10:23 - Speaker 5Or if we have. 0:10:24 - Speaker 2If we have, it's been a while, so that's in itself, i think, hall of Fame, where they Yeah, when he was a newbie he just came out and just did Joe Biden an impression of Joe Biden like immediately. 0:10:36 - Speaker 5Yeah. 0:10:36 - Speaker 2So, yeah, that has to be points once a long time from now, maybe, when James Austin Johnson is up for nomination, i'm sure that'll be mentioned. So thank you all of you panelists. And now I want to ask you guys. So we changed the voting process a little bit this time around. So now voters are required to vote for at least one person in each of the main categories. So we have as the categories cast member, host, musical guest and writer. So voters have to vote for at least one person in one of those categories, and then you have 11 votes to do as you please. You can just vote for four nominees and that's it. You can use all 15 votes that you have at your disposal. It's up to you. We've had a wide range over these last few voting cycles, so I'm going to start with you, victoria. How many votes Did you use on your ballot and why? 0:11:32 - Speaker 3I used all because I'm a sucker, i can't choose. 0:11:38 - Speaker 2You're just positive, putting pretty positivity out into the world. 0:11:41 - Speaker 3I mean it's, if you're on Saturday Night Live, you're on there for a reason, right? they don't just choose anybody. So I think it's hard to not use all of my votes. I had a hard time, so yeah. 0:11:55 - Speaker 2So Victoria, yeah, victoria, 15 votes that she's going to use on her ballot. Jeremy, how many votes are you using? 0:12:03 - Speaker 6I used all 15 as well. So I'm with Victoria. I went off 15 and for me it's just. I mean, this ballot is, i start to feel now for people who have to really vote for people in Hall of Fame, like you know, in Sports Hall of Fame, like I'm always getting on them, how could you leave this guy out or how you leave that person out. But it is hard and for me, being a lover of history and I love looking at things in a historical aspect, so there's like the heavy hitters who are like the automatic slam dunks on the ballot, but then there's other people who maybe they don't get the recognition from the public, but their historical value to the show and what the impact that they made. I take that into consideration big time. So I used all 15. 0:12:48 - Speaker 2So Jamie Burwood. how many votes did you use on your ballot? 0:12:53 - Speaker 5Yeah, so keeping it going, i used all 15 of my votes as well. For me, this was just a super stacked ballot, honestly, even more so than the last voting round. I really struggled to even narrow it down to the 15. And I think, for me, just realizing how many different ways people can contribute to the show as well like looking at the list of writers, looking at hosts it's just, it's so hard to compare apples to apples. So, yeah, i had no problem using all 15. 0:13:22 - Speaker 2Yeah, and I do have a feeling that most of our voters will use all 15 of their votes. I know I'm a voter as well. I think I'll probably use all 15 votes. It's just kind of a stacked class and there's a lot of tough decisions to be made, so I think you all are not alone in using all 15 votes. So let's get to it. I'm going to name the nominees just to just to reiterate again for our listeners, and then we will reveal everybody's ballots. So the nominees for this this year's class. For the cast member category, we have John Belushi, dana Carvey, jane Curtin, jan hooks, bill Murray, amy Polar, maya Rudolph and Molly Shannon. For hosts, we have Drew Barrymore, candice Bergen, john Goodman, elliott Gould, buck Henry, scarlett Johansson, melissa McCarthy, john Mulaney, paul Rudd, emma Stone, justin Timberlake, lily Tomlin and Christopher Walken lot of hosts on the on the ballot this year. Musical guests we have Beyonce, elvis Costello, miley Cyrus, dave Grohl, paul McCartney, tom Petty and the heartbreakers Prince, rihanna and Paul Simon. And for the writer category, we have James Downey, al Franken and Tom Davis, jack Handy, the Lonely Island, conan O'Brien, michael O'Donohue, paul Appel, herb Sargent and Robert Smigel, and we also have kind of a wild card nominee here. So it's not. He'…

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Episode 17. Season 3 Round Table #1 May 29, 2023

Show notes

Join us for a trip down memory lane as we discuss who deserves a spot in the SNL Hall of Fame with our panel of former guests, Brad, Dave, and Will! Hear their thoughts on this season's candidates, with Brad kicking off the conversation with his number one pick - the legendary John Belushi.From debating the comedic stylings of Belushi, Bill Murray, and Dana Carvey, to discussing the merits of newer SNL icons like Dave Chappelle, Justin Timberlake, and Maya Rudolph, our panelists offer insightful opinions on the lasting impact these cast members have on the show. They also touch on the early years of SNL and how its pioneers shaped the show into the cultural phenomenon it is today.But don't worry - we don't just cover the A-listers. Listen in as we discuss underrated gems like Jane Curtin, Jan Hooks, and even controversial figures like Dick Ebersol. Plus, we weigh in on whether musical guests like Beyonce and Miley Cyrus deserve a spot in the SNL Hall of Fame. Grab your headphones and join us for a nostalgia-filled, laughter-inducing, and enlightening roundtable discussion!Chapters(0:00:08) - SNL Hall of Fame Roundtable Discussion(0:08:21) - SNL Hall of Fame Candidates(0:13:35) - Debating SNL Hall of Fame Candidates(0:24:56) - SNL Hall of Fame Picks(0:34:02) - SNL Hall of Fame Ballot Discussion(0:45:44) - SNL Hall of Fame Nominations(0:54:11) - SNL Hall of Fame Inductees Discussion(1:07:04) - Debating SNL Hall of Fame Nominees(1:15:37) - Suggesting Musical Guests for SNLTranscript0:00:08 - Speaker 1It's the SNL Hall of Fame podcast with your host, jamie Dube, chief librarian Thomas Senna, and featuring Matt Ardill At now. Curator of the Hall, jamie Dube. 0:00:41 - Speaker 2Hi everyone, welcome to the Saturday Night Live Hall of Fame. I am your guest host for this roundtable, matt Ardill, and it is my pleasure to be hosting an amazing panel of former guests who are going to share their votes for this season's set of candidates going to the Saturday Night Live Hall of Fame. So what we'll do is we'll go around and we'll have everybody introduce themselves. Brad, if you want to start. 0:01:12 - Speaker 3Hi, i'm Brad Robinson from the Not Ready for Primetime podcast. Happy to be here, dave. 0:01:19 - Speaker 4I'm Dave Buckman. I own Coldtown Theater in Austin, texas. I'm a second city alum, boom, chicago alum and general podcast panelist for Saturday Night Live related podcasts. 0:01:33 - Speaker 5It's Dave and Will. Yes, hi, I'm Will Norman and I'm just also an SNL enthusiast and podcast guest here on the Hall of Fame Network. I've been on the Was Only Beyonce episode. I'm just excited to talk with all of you today about this season's nominees. Thanks for having me. 0:01:48 - Speaker 2Great, and what are we all expecting tonight, like? what kind of result, what kind of conversation? I mean, i know I'm spending a fun time, i think it's going to be an interesting combination of opinions here, but what are you all expecting for tonight? 0:02:05 - Speaker 4I'm expecting to have my mind changed on a couple of people. I have more than 15 on my ballot, so I need to be talked off the ledge for a couple of weeks. 0:02:18 - Speaker 3I'm interested to see where the conversation goes old versus new. My ballot's fairly full and it's fairly full with returning nominees and older nominees, so I'm excited to see if I can convince some people to keep these old timers on the ballot. 0:02:36 - Speaker 5I'm expecting an all out blood bath tonight. I guess I might be. Maybe that won't be the case, maybe not be the case, but I'm on the opposite of Dave, where I used about 13 of my votes. I'm still kind of on the. I guess I'm kind of on that border with a few of them and actually just want to have a conversation to see who I might be overlooking and who some of those votes might go to. with returning nominees and first ballot people, i'm excited to see where the conversation goes today. 0:03:03 - Speaker 2So we'll use 13. What made you land at that number? Why did you hold back a couple? 0:03:12 - Speaker 5So I ended up leaving my ballot at 13 because there's a lot of other candidates that were first ballot or returning nominees that I feel like I needed a little bit more time and was actually hoping to get some conversation with the panelists here today to just kind of see where I may have overlooked someone besides, just kind of speaking to my own biases, to see if I could be educated on some people that I might have overlooked that deserve to be in those final two spots. 0:03:35 - Speaker 2Awesome, Dave. how many votes did you use and what was your logic? 0:03:41 - Speaker 4I used all 17. Even though we're only allowed to have 15. 0:03:47 - Speaker 2So could it be some editing on the fly kind of thing going on, Yeah? 0:03:50 - Speaker 4I'm going to have to really I'm going to need Will and Brad to kind of like tell me why somebody doesn't deserve to be on there, because I mean I could have honestly, i could have picked 25 out of these 30. It was very, very hard to get to where I am now and I'm looking at it. I just don't mean how do I, how? the people I have on my bubble are just legendary. So how do you, how do you cut them from that ballot? I don't even know how to like rank them if I was going to. So that's where I'm at. 0:04:22 - Speaker 2And. 0:04:22 - Speaker 3Brad, i'm a bit more like Will. I've got 14 selections. 11 of them are pretty solid. I've got actually 12 because one of them is the musical guest my one musical guest vote. So I've got a couple that I'm on the fence to hear about, and I left an empty spot to see if, you know, someone can convince me. 0:04:40 - Speaker 2I like you, brad, chose 14. I have one where I'm like, oh, like this, last time I did this I filled all 15. Then afterwards I was like, oh, you know, that was a really strong case, but I cast my vote and I'm going to have to stand by it And I'm going to be the one to let somebody convince me at the end of how I'm going to vote. So it makes it for an interesting conversation. Create some stakes when we're doing that Terrific. Okay, well, what we'll do again. Like well, i'll just start working my way around the, around the ring here, and why don't we just start naming off our, our picks? So, brad, do you want to start us off? 0:05:23 - Speaker 3My number one pick is John Belushi Easy pick. If you've heard our podcast, i'm a huge John Belushi fan, saturday Night Live and otherwise and he's hands down my number one pick between iconic characters, great impressions, legendary sketches, does it all, plays himself And you know, in addition to Dan, the first cast members to ever be featured on the show in another role while they were cast members, when him and Dan were musical guests as well, they were the first cast members to actually be shown, showcased in another light as well. So John Belushi is my number one. 0:06:02 - Speaker 2I watched a lot of those very early episodes at an entirely inappropriate age. So you know, i got to know his work really young and he made me laugh then and he still makes me laugh now. I mean, i think I rewatched just recently the Star Trek sketch And it's just that the impersonation that he does of Shatner is hilarious And it's just like it. Just it shows a range that a lot of people especially now as there's been distance from his work people don't credit it with, like they think Animal House and this loud ruckus character. But he had a lot more to him And, yeah, i can totally understand that. 0:06:44 - Speaker 3Yeah, he has a lot more to him, especially in season one. You know he does his Shatner impression. He's got his Marlon Brando impression, the Joe Cocker impression that he does in episode three. I still will put up against anything that's been done in the last 50 years on that show And even stuff you forget, like we've been going back, we've been watching the old Land Shark sketches and he does a Richard Dreyfuss impression which is amazingly great. It's surprisingly good. I don't even remember it, it's so good. So it's even the small stuff. And then, before he gets big, that season one is great watching John because he plays very childish and like impish sort of scenes where, like by season three, that's all gone because he is, he's full blown Belushi by that point. So it's it's. He definitely has a range And if you've watched from the beginning through, you see that whole arc. 0:07:28 - Speaker 5Any other 70 thoughts on Belushi, belushi was near the top of my list as well. I mean, i think it's impossible to tell the story of SNL without mentioning Belushi and his contributions, so obviously taken away too soon. 0:07:42 - Speaker 4I did not put Belushi on my ballot. Maybe in future ballots, perhaps when he stacked up against fourth or fifth rounders, but Belushi never hit me Well. I love little chocolate donuts, i love the Blues Brothers, i love the Marlon Brando impression, i love the Joe Cocker impression, but I don't think that he was much of a team player. I think he was very much about Belushi and Belushi's goals for the show And a lot of his humor hit me is very angry and aggressive rather than funny, and I just that's not my kind of humor. I feel the same way about Michael Adonahue. It just it's not. It was funny, i think, to me when I was 12 or 13, but I think I've grown. I've grown out of that style of humor And I also love Animal House and I love all of his movies too. But when stacked up against some of these other folks, i think their contributions to the genre of Saturday Night Live there's better contributions out there. 0:08:47 - Speaker 3I'll try to argue him in this a little bit. I hear what you're saying with his comedy coming from anger and I do agree it definitely gets there. But if you look at the early seasons, one and two especially, i don't think he's gotten there yet. You know, the Joe Cocker, the Marlon Brando impression is amazing. The Star Trek scene both of the elite cool, are great. His Beethoven impression, the Richard Dreyfus that I mentioned, little chocolate donuts There's so much stuff he does the samurai character that lead up to him getting to that point. I think once he becomes what we've come to know as John Belushi, i agree with you a bit that it does get a bit edgy. Edgy's the wrong word. It does get a bit angry. It does come from that place and it's not as genuinely funny. But to Will's point, i don't know how you talk about Saturday Night Live without John Belushi, without seeing him in the B outfit, without seeing him in the samurai, without seeing him behind the counter of Olympia restaurant, not being Jake Blues, him and Akaroid together final days sketch. there's just so much of those first four years that if you don't have John Belushi I don't know what happens. Season one's all about Chevy. Chevy leaves and Bill Murray didn't jump right out of the gate as blowing the doors off the place, and John really helped keep that together until Bill found his voice. I mean not just John alone, john and Dan and all of them, but John Belushi is a key, key factor as to how we made it from the Chevy Chase era to the Bill Murray era and that show exploding into the zeitgeist of comedy. 0:10:15 - Speaker 2It's a strong argument. It's an interesting case. This is the fun of the round table We get to hear the different points and counter points. So, dave, do you want to share your first pick? 0:10:30 - Speaker 4My first pick is Bill Murray. Bill Murray is, for me, the consummate sketch performer. He basically owned Season 4 and 5. He's come back to host so many times and kind of just lift the crowd and the cast and the show with him every time he comes back. His contributions, beyond his four years in the show you know he set a tone for the kind of cast member A he's the first new hire you know, for all its purposes the first feature performer And just the kind of person that's in every sketch. you know, setting that archetype of like that Phil Hartman, that Bill Murray, will Ferrell, somebody who's just going to consistently get in there every single sketch and destroy and even make bad scenes better just by being in them. And his characters are just so many, so many to mention. you know, from the nerd sketch to Nick the Louncing singer, to his time on the Weekend Update desk doing Oscar picks. There's just so many iconic things that you can point back to Bill Murray which would absolutely be in the Hall of Fame. 0:11:42 - Speaker 2Anybody else? vote for Bill Murray. 0:11:46 - Speaker 3He's my number two. I can't argue with anything. Dave said He's my number two pick Again. I mentioned it before like he had a rough coming in after Chevy. You know Chevy left and he didn't jump right into the spotlight so it took him time. He took the reins and he ran with it and you know he didn't really have that many impressions but didn't need to. Like Dave said, his sketches are great. His characters are great. He held down Weekend Update. There's a lot of anger behind Bill Murray. I'm just going to say He's got that drive in him a little bit as well. Just to relay my John Belushi point. But no Bill. 0:12:15 - Speaker 4Murray. But no, dave, i mean again, but he's impish, he's got like. 0:12:19 - Speaker 3He plays it off much better He does. 0:12:21 - Speaker 4But no, I add him right there. 0:12:22 - Speaker 3Number two with Dave. Same thing You can't talk SNL without Bill Murray, Will any thoughts? 0:12:27 - Speaker 5Yeah. So I think I'm probably going to hop into Dave's camp here and say that Bill Murray is not on my Hall of Fame ballot, so yeah, so I'll explain. I still have two spots left, so it's not definitive. But the reason why is so? I will start by saying that Groundhog Day is one of my favorite movies of all time. I love Bill Murray, but I was worried that I was fading a lot of my feelings about Bill Murray, his post-SNL career versus Jesse down the show. Obviously, most respect to Nick the lounge singer, his work on the update. Also now that one point time he had the obviously innovative for the time, his plea to the viewers and kind of saying hey, i'm new on the show, i don't know if it's actually really working, like, can you guys like write in and, you know, give me some support. And I think kind of even in that, even though it's obviously very innovative, just the fact that he was kind of in that spot, i think about it as a Hall of Fame or someone who is just to me like, are they Hall of Fame or not? I think he was obviously great on the show at the time, but just wondering if I was shading him a little bit too much with my fandom of him post-show, but I think it has made some very compelling arguments. Like I said that early not the one to John Belushi, but, like I said, there's still some wiggle room. So maybe I've overlooked Bill. But just to make it on my first cut of the first view. 0:13:38 - Speaker 2I'll admit, he's not on my list either. Now. I mean, i know, i know, but I love Ghostbusters, i love Grand Hog Day, i love his work in the show, I love his work after the show. But again, it was like it was one of those things where I'm like am I letting this, like the these things that I loved as a kid outside of the show, shade my opinion there? But also I'm like I was trying to balance it out where I'm like not choosing all…

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Episode 16. Amy Poehler May 22, 2023

Show notes

We're ecstatic to celebrate and nominate the phenomenal Amy Poehler for the SNL Hall of Fame! Together with our fantastic guest, Victoria Fronso, we embark on the journey of Amy's illustrious career, from her kazoo-playing ice cream parlor days to her current status as an award-winning actor, producer, writer, director, and comedian. Get ready to be inspired by her amazing accomplishments, including her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, her Golden Globe win, and her friendships with Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, and Keena Faye.Discover the incredible impact Amy Poehler has had on the world of sketch and improv comedy. Reminisce on our favorite moments from the Upright Citizens Brigade Sketch Show and how Amy's trailblazing personality inspired us to chase our comedy dreams. Listen in as we analyze her unforgettable characters and sketches, her chemistry with Maya Rudolph, and her collaboration with guests like Justin Timberlake and Katy Perry, which all contributed to her remarkable SNL legacy.Don't miss out as we discuss Amy's groundbreaking depiction of Hillary Clinton, her hilarious lines like "You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to go home. I'm going to go home, put my phone on vibrate and call myself." and how she's become an icon and role model for many. Celebrate the one and only Amy Poehler with us and make sure she gets voted into the SNL Hall of Fame!--------- EPISODE CHAPTERS ---------(0:00:08) - Amy Poehler(0:16:38) - Amy Poehler's Comedy Career(0:26:19) - Amy Poehler's SNL Impact(0:35:48) - SNL Characters With Amy Poehler(0:42:46) - SNL Sketches and Character Influences(0:53:37) - Amy Poehler's Impact on SNL(1:01:00) - Celebrating Amy Poehler's SNL Legacy(1:12:11) - Bronx BeatTranscript0:00:08 - Speaker 1It's the SNL Hall of Fame podcast with your host, jamie Dube, chief Librarian Thomas Senna, and featuring Matt Bardille At now. Curator of the Hall, jamie Dube. 0:00:41 - Speaker 2All right, thank you so much, doug Denats. It is great to be here in the SNL Hall of Fame podcast zone. Please come on inside, but before you do, wipe that spring mock off your feet. The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair. Each episode, we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest or writer and add them to the ballot for your consideration. Once the nominees have all been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity in the hall. Folks, it's time. It's absolutely time. The time has come. May 23rd is tomorrow and voting opens up. Have you registered to vote? Go to SNLHofcom, click vote and click register to vote there. Your ballot will be in your hands within 24 hours. Once the 23rd begins and all bets are off, we're going to elect another class in the SNL Hall of Fame. So this is really exciting. And what makes things even more exciting is today's nominee, because if you had your ballot set, it might be thrown asunder when you hear who we are nominating today, and that is Amy Poehler. We are closing out this season by nominating Amy Poehler. This is going to be great. I can't wait to hear what our guest has to say, and really I can't wait to hear what Matt has to say. So let's go and talk to our friend Matt. Hey, matt. 0:02:22 - Speaker 3Hey, jimmy, how are you doing? I'm great. How about you, matt? I am terrific. I'm really looking forward to today's topic of discussion, amy Poehler. Yeah, she's great. Right, she is wonderful 5'2". Born September 16, 1971. So we're starting to get into the cast members that are around my age and making me feel old, since they're already retired from SNL. She has 94 acting credits, 30 producer credits, 19 writing credits, 15 soundtrack credits and six director credits. Yeah, she was born in Newton, massachusetts, to two school teachers. Her dad pushed her from day one to try new things. Prior to going to college, she worked in an old-timey themed ice cream parlor called Chadwix, where she was made to wear a costume and play the kazoo while singing Happy Birthday to customers. And that's actually what helped her realize that she wanted to be a performer, because making people laugh made her feel like a queen. Yeah, so she started improv with my mother's flea bag. While working on her bachelor's in media at Boston College, she took classes at Second City, where she studied with improv. God, del Close. There's so many people I know who are like one degree separated from Del Close. It's bonkers and it's like man. It must have been wild studying with him. But yeah, so while studying with Del, she befriended and began performing alongside Tina Fey at Improv Olympics, and she then went on to co-found Upright Citizens Brigade and helped create the ASCAT format with Matt Besser, ian Roberts and Matt Walsh In 1996, growing from just an improv sketch troupe to a school of its own, sitting side by side with Second City and the groundlings, as one of the most influential improv sketch schools in entertainment. Ucb went on to train luminaries like Aziz Ansari, donald Glover, ed Helms, ellie Kemper, aubrey Plaza, nick Kroll and Zach Woods. Basically, if you see a hot young comedian who's actually no longer that young but still hot ripping up the industry right now, they likely took a UCB class. Now she is, like my wife, a noted fan of bone stugs and harmony. In the early 90s she had a recurring role on Conan O'Brien's late night as Andy Richter's younger sister, with a disturbingly intense crush on Conan. It was a lot to watch. Even back then She brought it all Now. During the first two seasons of Arrested Development she played Willar Nett, god Bluth's accidental wife, before eventually marrying him for real in 2007, before later divorcing. She also played his sister in the film's Blades of Glory with a disturbingly wife-like energy Now while filming the movie Baby Mama with Keena Faye, she was in fact pregnant with her first child, archie. She has formed lasting friendships with both Faye and Seth Meyers, whom she considers her best friends. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, along with a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in Television. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame along with a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series for Parks and Rec, as well as an Emmy and Writers Guild of America Award. The award was the third SNL alumni to give a class day address to the graduating class at Harvard. Alongside Al Franken and Will Ferrell, she started a wine store called Zoolow Wines and Spirits in Brooklyn Park Slope with musician friends Amy Miles and Mike Robertson, where they sell nice bottles of wine for as little as $13. And finally, during the filming of Parks and Rec, polar started a tradition that any time the show was shot on location, the whole cast and crew would have dinner together and she would dedicate a toast to someone, often picking out a cast or crew member, and the toasts would have to continue until everyone was toasted. Mike sure called this the Polar and continued this tradition on the good place. So yeah, she's just a nice human being. Sounds that way. 0:07:21 - Speaker 2Yeah, nice human being who belongs in the SNL Hall of Fame. What do you think? 0:07:25 - Speaker 3Agreed, definitely agreed. 0:07:28 - Speaker 2All right Cool, all right Yes. 0:07:54 - Speaker 4Thank you so much, matt and Jamie and I am to join here today by a wonderful first time guest here on the SNL Hall of Fame. She's a frequent guest on the Saturday Night Networks podcast. Our great friends over there, john Schneider and them Victoria, i actually heard you on John's shows and decided to poach you. That's kind of what I do here and there is all here talent on the Saturday Night Network and then just kind of get you over here on the SNL Hall of Fame, but John doesn't mind. 0:08:26 - Speaker 7No, I'm sure he doesn't mind the double dip. 0:08:29 - Speaker 4No, he does not. We are all good friends, we're all wonderful podcasting communities. So, victoria Fronso, thank you so much for joining us here on the SNL Hall of Fame. 0:08:39 - Speaker 7And thank you for having me. I'm excited to do this. I love debating Hall of Fame people and who's worthy and who may not be worthy, but we're here to discuss who's worthy. 0:08:49 - Speaker 4Yeah, absolutely, and we have a really good one today. But before we get to that, usually I go into more detail about my guest during this intro, but I want you to do it, victoria. So can you talk about your experience as a sketch and improv performer and maybe a little about being a 2023 SNL scholar? 0:09:09 - Speaker 7Yeah, i'd love to, so I always wanted to do comedy. It was kind of second nature, but my parents always told me, to quote get a real job, as a lot of performer parents tell them to do So. After college, probably around 2018, i started taking improv classes at the second city and did a lot of performances there as well, outside of my classes, and then in 2020, i auditioned for the conservatory, which I'll just pair like just for context is kind of like your masters of comedy and improv at the second city, you have to audition to get in and you have to audition to stay in, and then something called the pan pandemic is what it was called happen. 0:09:52 - Speaker 4I've heard about that. 0:09:53 - Speaker 7Yeah, I read about on Twitter and it was like, oh, it was a big deal or something. So I had to pause there. Pause there for a little bit. But last year, while living in Detroit, I was doing comedy at Go Comedy Improv Improv Theater. I don't know why I keep can't say improv for the life of me, even though I do it all the time. I was doing comedy there I was an understudy. I did a couple of sketch shows or a sketch show at the planet Aunt Theater, both theaters founded by Second City Detroit alumni, which is really cool. So you kind of get that training trickle down. And then last year I applied for the Saturday Night Live Scholarship at the second city and was one out of four people who got it, which is really cool. It's a diversity scholarship and it kind of is trying to build a pathway for folks who have a different background, whether that be ethnically racial, if they're part of the LGBTQ plus community, just to get them an opportunity to be in spaces that they may otherwise not have. And what that entails is they pay for my training and what my classes are, And I'm currently in the final stage of my classes at Second City. So it's kind of bittersweet there, But then I get to meet with a few of SNL folks and then hopefully get to audition this time next year. 0:11:12 - Speaker 4Wow, that's awesome And hopefully you won't forget all of us little people who you've interacted with when you're on the show in New York doing that. But that's Victoria, that's so awesome And I just kind of wish you really good luck and wish you well on your venture there. That's so wonderful. 0:11:32 - Speaker 7Thank you so much. I don't expect anything. I'll be very honest. I don't expect to be on SNL. I'm really just grateful to be doing this work. It's been a part of my life for such a long time And now that I'm able to kind of learn from the best and learn all these different techniques whether or not I make a SNL or whatever it is I end up doing I'm just happy to be doing it. And even being on podcasts like this one and just to share my love for comedy in different ways is awesome. 0:12:01 - Speaker 4You bring such a great perspective that we haven't had here. On the SNL Hall of Fame You're not just watching Saturday Night Live and watching sketch performers, you're doing it. You're performing sketch, you're taking the classes, you're making your way through. So I just love that perspective that you bring to this. So that's why I think you're the perfect guest to talk about Amy Poehler, because she was so influential in the sketch and improv world. So her first sketch and improv experience, just real quick, was with Improv Olympic. So can you tell us kind of about Improv Olympic and what Amy's background is with that? 0:12:41 - Speaker 7Yeah, i don't know entirely too much about her time at IO is what it is called But I do know her first class was taught by Sharna Halpern, who is an icon and a staple in the Chicago improv community and just improv everywhere, and so to have your first class in Chicago taught by her is kind of a big deal. You don't see it often. I don't think Sharna is teaching much anymore. She also learned and worked from Del Close, who's also a legend in the comedy world in Chicago and improv as well, and that's actually where she met Tina Fey. So a lot of folks think she met her at Second City, but I think it was actually IO where they met and then they moved on to Second City. But yeah, others at IO, just to name a few, was like Chris Farley was there, and so it's that institution among Second City or where they've built a lot of these great SNL cast members. 0:13:37 - Speaker 4Yeah, the roots of sketch and improv definitely go back to IO and Del Close especially. Del Close is one of those names that you hear. It's almost like hearing about if you're a baseball fan, like Babe Ruth or something like that, and they name Del Close rings like that amongst these circles. 0:13:54 - Speaker 7I was going to say, if you're a fan of improv and sketch and learning about where it all started, i highly recommend reading the book called Improv Nation, and it goes a little bit deeper. If you're a little nerd about it, like me, it goes a bit a lot deeper into it And it talks about how Chicago has become this for lack of a better term a cesspool of comedic geniuses, and that's where everyone comes to really get their foot in the door. 0:14:23 - Speaker 4I think that book delved into Mike Nichols and maybe his work in two And everybody knows Mike Nichols from his time as a director, a really famous director, but he has roots there. Improv Nation is a really good book. I second that. I suggest Improv Nation as well. So yeah, so Amy Poehler joined in 1995, she then moved on to Upright Citizens Brigade where I think most people who caught the me of the tail end are familiar with her before SNL. They know her with UCB. So she co-founded the UCB Theater in New York City in 1999. That's one of the main training grounds for aspiring and sketch improv and comedians. Like Second City and those others, The groundlings in California and LA, These are like the huge breeding grounds for sketch and improv reformers. So Victoria is someone who's currently a sketch and improv comedian. I know you're most associated with second city but you know we can put into context UCB standing in that world of sketch. So maybe let me tell us about UCB's standing in that world and Particularly Amy's influence. 0:15:34 - Speaker 7Yeah, i just take a step back to. I want to call out that Amy Polar was on second cities touring company, which has been part of second cities since, i think, 1967, and It was a way for if you weren't able to make it a second city, second city was gonna come to you and Not many people are able to do that. So I just want to call out how awesome it is and how you know Seldom it is that you get to see folks on touring company. It's very competitive. Former touring members include, like Julia Louis Dreyfus and Chris Redd, and they, her and Tina Fey, actually auditioned on…

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Episode 15. John Belushi May 15, 2023

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Title: SNL Hall of Fame: Celebrating the Life and Laughs of John BelushiIntroduction:Join us as we take an unforgettable journey through the life and career of legendary comedian John Belushi. With our insightful guest, Justin Renwick, we explore Belushi's early beginnings, his rise to fame with Second City and the National Lampoon, and his undeniable charisma that made him one of the most iconic comedians of all time.Chapters:- (0:00:08) SNL Hall of Fame Podcast: Introduction and overview of the episode, including John Belushi's early beginnings and his rise to fame.- (0:12:44) John Belushi's Career and Charisma: Exploring Belushi's journey to Second City, his success with the National Lampoon, and his charismatic stage presence.- (0:17:12) The Brilliance of John Belushi: Examining Belushi's confidence, his ability to immerse himself in characters, and his incredible comedic timing.- (0:24:37) Belushi's Impact on SNL and Comedy: Reflecting on Belushi's unforgettable performances, including his iconic Samurai character and the chemistry he shared with fellow castmates.- (0:34:24) Remembering John Belushi's SNL Sketches: Diving into Belushi's memorable sketches, his impersonations, and the impact of his comedic skills.- (0:46:42) John Belushi's Legacy: Discussing Belushi's influence on future comedians and whether he is the greatest SNL actor of all time.Keywords:- John Belushi- SNL- Second City- National Lampoon- Comedy- Chevy Chase- Samurai character- Animal HouseTranscript0:00:08 - AnnouncerIt's the SNL Hall of Fame podcast with your host, jamie Dube, chief Librarian Thomas Senna, and featuring Matt Bardille And now Curator of the Hall, jamie Dube. 0:00:42 - jDAll right, thank you so much, doug Denats. It's JD here, and welcome to the SNL Hall of Fame podcast. It's a weekly affair where each episode, we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest or writer and add them to the ballot for your consideration. Once the nominees have all been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity inside these hallowed halls. You won in and I can let you in, but not until you wipe your goddamn feet. That's right. Wipe your feet at the door, you filthy animal. How are you doing today? I am, i'm actually really great. Thanks for asking. We've got a barn burner of a show today. It is Justin Renwick joining Thomas Senna in conversation about the very intriguing John Belushi. This should be a good one. I can tell you that the conversations I've had on Reddit, this is probably the most anticipated episode of the season, based on feedback that I've been getting about who we haven't seen nominated in the hall. Now, in case you're curious the way things work, we work together with a committee and choose who will be nominated each year from a pool based on the parameters that have been outlined by the SNL Hall of Fame. Once those selections are made, we sort of piece them together and produce a podcast and we make that show and we put them out every week and you get to listen And that's great. But the real key here is the voting, and the voting is coming up real soon. In fact, next week we are nominating Amy Poehler on the show and then Tuesday, the 23rd of May, voting will begin and it will run through to June 17th. So you will have from May 23rd to June 17th to cast your votes, to cast 15 votes, 15 votes up to 15 votes, i should say, for the SNL Hall of Fame. It's exciting. After Amy Poehler we'll do a few roundtables and then we'll do the reveal, and the reveal is quite exciting. I'm really curious to see if any of our legacy holdovers make it this year. There's Dave Grohl is really close. Lonely Island is super close and Lonely Island should be on. It should have been, you know, a first ballot Hall of Famer as far as I'm concerned, but I don't control the vote. So there's that If you're looking to register to vote, what you want to do is you want to go to SNLHofcom and click on the voting tab and click register to vote. You can do that right there and you will get a ballot on the 23rd emailed to you and Bob's, your uncle, from there. So there's that. Let's go over and talk to our friend Matt in his minutiae minute corner and learn a little bit more about Mr John Belushi. Oh, matthew, hey, hi, jimmy, how are you doing? 0:04:21 - MattI'm great. How about you, matt? I'm good. Thanks, i'm good. Really excited to talk about one of the classic cast members here today, john Belushi, the one and only five. Five foot eight, born January 24th 1949. He credit his grandmother, his Albanian grandmother, for getting him into show business. She didn't understand English, so she would have him act things out for her which made her laugh, and thus a career was born. He actually had very humble beginnings in the start of his career, which was as a youth instructor at a theater camp, the Shawnee Summer Theater of Green County. But from there he went on to become a member of the West Compass Trio, second city in the National Lampoon Lemmings. Prior to joining SNL, he attended the Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, which is where he actually got the college shirt, as seen in Animal House. There's a gift shop there in an area known as the Strip, which is still operating today if you wanted to go and get one for yourself. So while living in New York, he was next door neighbor to SNL fixture Elliot Gould, who we've talked about in the past. He is a huge nerd, or he was a huge nerd. He was a fan of many things, from Lucille Ball, whose entire career he committed to memory And this is something that actually seems to come up a bit. He had a razor sharp memory. He was also a Star Trek fan and with Kirk in particular, to the point Shatner said he preferred Belushi's take on Kirk And he was a big Marvel fan. On one visit to their offices in New York He could summarize any specific issue. Just by looking at the cover. He could people say, well, that's this one. He's like oh, this is the issue where Spider-Man is fighting the Green Goblin and so on and so dies, which must have made him really happy when he and the not ready for primetime players were featured in a Spider-Man comic And he ends up having stolen the Silver Samurai sword and used it in the sketch, so that my wife got that for me, actually that issue. It was shockingly inexpensive for a double memorabilia whammy, but she got that for me from our anniversary last year. That's very cool. Now he was well known for being very judgmental. One of the ways he would evaluate people is by borrowing $20 and seeing how they reacted, so you know if they're kind of a jerk about it. You knew, oh, they were a jerk, but he just gauged how they behaved, that's a good trick. Yeah, yeah, it was an interesting one. I have to remember that Now he was a heavy metal fan, which I did not realize. But when he met Dan Ackroyd, having performed together, dan tried to entice him onto the SNL cast At a Speak Easy, because of course, with those two is at a Speak Easy. Dan put on a blues album which stirred a fascination in John that became career defining, because he had never listened to blues before that meeting and then went on to create the Blues Brothers together. Now he was such a huge star. There were a bunch of roles that he was supposed to be a part of in films. Peter Venkman was originally written for him. He was replaced by James Woods in Once Upon a Time in America on his passing and was to appear in an adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with Ackroyd. Many more projects, but one of the more interesting, given it kind of ties back to his time on SNL. Harold Ramis was guest hosting an episode of Siskel and Ebert and discussed how it was John's dream to play Ludwig von Beethoven in a film, which is a weird one, but given he played him on the show, i guess that could have been a technically SNL spin-off. Now, sorry, go ahead. So he had the nickname of America's guest, as he had a habit of knocking on strangers' doors, entering their homes and eating things from their refrigerator and then crashing out on their couch. This never resulted in any problems because he was so well known, but speaks to how different the 70s were from today. Now he required an income of between $500,000 and a million dollars a year to maintain his lifestyle and his entourage. Now, while he would often make use of strangers' generosity, he himself was also very generous, lending large sums of money to friends and family Towards the end of his life. His manager pushed him to start collecting on these debts, but John refused. Now he is buried in Martha's Vineyard, where his epitaph reads he made us laugh and now he can make us think, but his grave was so popular with visitors, they moved his casket to an unmarked grave in a quiet corner of the cemetery, after which his fans posted a new epitaph based on his catchphrase. He could have given us a lot more laughs, but no, that is John Belushi. 0:10:21 - jDThat's great. Take it away, Thomas. 0:10:48 - ThomasAlright, Justin Renwick is joining me today. Thank you so much for joining me here on the SNL Hall of Fame. 0:10:54 - JustinIt's my pleasure. Thank you for having me. 0:10:56 - ThomasYeah, so this one is a big one to me. This is probably to a lot of people The legendary John Belushi will be talking about. So he was on SNL 1975 to 1980, part of the original cast. He seemed to be made for sketch comedy and had a lot of reps before he started at Saturday Night Live. So you talk about his path to SNL and his prior work in sketch comedy. 0:11:23 - JustinSo we could go way back to high school, which is where he caught the acting bug. He was a very accomplished athlete. He was a football player, he was a drummer, he was in a band that actually released a single believe it or not And to show what a small world Chicago and the greater Chicago area is, because he grew up. He was born in Chicago but he grew up in Wheaton, illinois. He knew Dick Lesucci, who was somebody he would also work with at Second City, and Dick Lesucci went on to SCTV as a writer, which I think he formed an alliance with Joe Flaherty at some point, which is how that came about, but we're getting a little bit off topic. So yeah, john, when he was in high school, did drama and his drama teacher noticed something. He's like there's something special about this kid And if anyone's read the book Wired this is where I know this story from. Apparently, this teacher took him to. If I'm remembering correctly, he took him to. I know it was Indiana, but I don't know if he went and auditioned somewhere else, but basically he got into summer stock in Indiana a year before most people were eligible when he was 17. Like that's how preternaturally talented he was And they did a whole series of plays there That went very well. He enrolled in when he graduated from high school, enrolled at the University of Wisconsin And I was doing drama there, but left after a year and then wound up going to the College of DuPage in West Chicago. Somewhere along that period he went to see Second City and had an epiphany, just realized this is what I was put on earth to do and formed the West Compass Players, which was a reference to the pre-Second City Compass Players, with his friends Tino Insana and Steve Bachecas who people that watch John Belushi on Saturday Night Live will be very familiar with that name because he brought it up a lot in his vits. So the three of them were able to audition en masse for Second City And I think it was Bernie Salons that auditioned them And he saw John's potential right away, saw something in Tino Insana. Well, i think Tino was put in the touring company or asked to take some more classes, but he wound up joining as well. But yeah, john went into Second City. I believe he went right into the main stage cast, which at the time had Brian Doyle, murray, harold Ramis, joe Flaherty, so he was punching well above his weight. I don't know if that's the right term to use, because that sounds more like he was not very good, but was somehow anyway he did very well, but he was young at the time. 0:13:51 - ThomasSo, like you know, being able to be in that company at his age says a lot about it. I think, it's fair to say, at that time punching up above his weight. 0:14:00 - JustinYeah, you're right. Yeah, he wouldn't have been around 22. Joe Flaherty was. I think he was in his late 20s at that point. He was a good 10 years older than the STTV cast, but anyway, that obviously went very well. He made a real reputation for himself there And through that got involved with the national ampoon, so much so that he moved to New York after he'd been in the Lemmings review with Chevy Chase and Christopher Gast, which is one of my favorite comedy albums of all time National Ampoon's Lemmings, which was a takeoff on Woodstock and was where he did Joe Cocker among. he also played the, the MC. But then, yeah, through that world of national ampoon and then writing, producing and performing for the radio hour, that's what brought him to the attention of Lauren Michaels through Chevy Chase and Michael O'Donoghue when they were putting Saturday Night Live together. 0:14:47 - ThomasEven at the National Ampoon's radio hour. that's where he came across with Bill Murray, gilda Radner, some of his future SNL cohorts, just a who's who working on that show at the time. Richard Belzer was even part of that. So it was just a really, really talented cast And, would you say I know a lot of them had their gifts and talents, but there was something magnetic about Belushi that even stood out amongst that type of talent. 0:15:14 - JustinBelushi has that thing like. The charisma is just unbelievable. But he has that mischievous glint. Jimmy Fallon has it as well. Many other people do where you're even if you know not only his stage presence. Right Just the minute John Belushi walked on to stage, eyes were drawn to him. John Candy had the same thing. Anyone that's tall I mean, john Belushi wasn't tall, but anyone that has a big presence and can exude that kind of charisma right away stills focused. But he always wanted to see what he was going to do next. Same thing with Jimmy Fallon When he was fucking around in a sketch and messing up. You wanted to know, oh, you know what's. He got up his sleeve What's going to happen next? And that was very much John Belushi too. This electric performer is the word that comes to mind. 0:15:53 - ThomasThat's why a lot of us watch live sketch and SNL in particular is because there's I mean there's that element of you don't know it's going to be a live show, you don't know what's going to happen. There's almost that danger involved in. Belushi really did personify. He did bring that energy to the show. Yeah. 0:16:11 - JustinAnd he has like Kate McKinnon is the same Melissa McCarthy just fearless performers that you can throw anything at them And they'll. You know, like even something as simple. I'm sure the tomato was cut beforehand, but like the samurai deli, when he throws the tomato up in the air and chops it with no-transcript, there's a million ways that can go wrong on a live TV show. But I don't think it bothered him at all, he just knew. 0:16:35 - ThomasSo he, like I said, he started with. You know he was an original cast member at SNL. They started in 1975. Where did you become familiar with Belushi's work and kind of what stood out to yo…

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Episode 14. Scarlett Johansson May 08, 2023

Show notes

Description: Dive deep into the amazing career of Scarlett Johansson, the highest-grossing actress of all time, with special guest Kirsten Turnbull. Explore her incredible journey as an actor and six-time SNL host, her memorable characters, and her potential to become an EGOT. Don't miss this captivating episode as we pay tribute to this remarkable actress and her many accomplishments.

Show Notes:

- (0:00:08) SNL Hall of Fame Podcast: Kirsten Turnbull joins the show, discussing Scarlett Johansson's career, including her 77 acting roles, 5 producer roles, 2 director roles, 21 soundtrack credits, and her impressive singing career.

- (0:13:15) Scarlett Johansson's SNL Hosting Career: Kirsten and the host explore Scarlett's journey on SNL, her ability to master comedic roles and characters, and her memorable performances.

- (0:29:35) Christmas Tropes and Scarlett's SNL: Discussing her 2019 Christmas episode of SNL, her monologue, and the memorable sketches that made it a standout episode.

- (0:34:05) Scarlett Johansson's SNL Christmas Sketches: Exploring the sketches that made her 2019 Christmas episode memorable, including Hot Tub Christmas and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, showcasing her comedic timing and confidence in Hollywood.

- (0:43:29) SNL Sketch Analysis: Examining Scarlett's ability to bring her characters to life and her comedic timing when hosting SNL, with a focus on her pet translator sketches and her impersonation of the Millionaire Matchmaker.

- (0:52:15) ScarJo's SNL Legacy: Celebrating Scarlett's incredible talent for creating memorable characters and her comedic timing, discussing her standout performances in sketches like Choking Poster and Jingle Riders, and her popularity as an SNL host.

Keywords: Scarlett Johansson, SNL, Kirsten Turnbull, comedy, acting, EGOT, Christmas episode, sketches, Hot Tub Christmas, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, pet translator, Millionaire Matchmaker, Choking Poster, Jingle Riders, Hollywood.

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Episode 13. Paul Simon May 02, 2023

Show notes

This week on the podcast Jamie, Thomas, and Matt are joined by returning guest Matti Price to discuss the career of friend of SNL Paul Simon.

If there is a musical guest more closely associated with SNL than Paul Simon they would need to be pointed out and argued for because I can't think of one.

Will Paul Simon make it into the Hall on his first ballot? Stay tuned...

If you've got questions about the show or would like to be a guest on an episode in the future please reach out - jamie@snlhof.com

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